Transcriptional silencing of tumour suppressor genes (TSG) due to hypermethylation is a common event in human tumours. The three members of the KIP/CIP family of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs), p21(CIP1), p27(KIP1), and p57(KIP2), play key roles in cell cycle regulation, but little is known about their methylation in myeloid neoplasia. Therefore, we analysed 9 haematopoietic cell lines, 67 myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and 26 acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cases as well as 11 controls. p57(KIP2) hypermethylation was found in 4/9 cell lines, but methylation of p21(CIP1) and p27(KIP1) was infrequent. All patient samples analysed were methylation-negative for these three genes. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.