Despite its limitations, our present study demonstrated that chidamide could sensitize CD34+CD38− KG1α, Kasumi cells, and primary refractory or relapsed AML CD34+ cells to conventional chemotherapy, and intensified the IDA-induced cell cycle, which was partly through enhancing DNA damage and suppressing the phosphorylation of DNA repair protein. Here, CD38 is linked to acute myeloid leukemia.