Based on these results, we conclude that the MDS patients with positive HIF‐1α expression tended to have a poor prognosis, since RAEB1/RAEB2 was likely to convert to AML, the percentage of initial cells (>5%) was associated with poor prognosis, and the increased level of lactate dehydrogenase was correlated with unsatisfactory prognosis for hematologic malignancies. The gene discussed is HIF1A; the disease is acute myeloid leukemia.