Natural killer (NK) cells are expanded in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients on tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and exert cytotoxicity. The inherited repertoire of killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) may influence response to TKI. We investigated the impact of KIR-genotype on outcome in 166 chronic phase CML patients on first-line imatinib treatment. We validated our findings in an independent patient group. On multivariate analysis, KIR2DS1 genotype (RR ¼ 1.51, P ¼ 0.03) and Sokal risk score (low-risk RR ¼ 1, intermediaterisk RR ¼ 1.53, P ¼ 0.04, high-risk RR ¼ 1.69, P ¼ 0.034) were the only independent predictors for failure to achieve complete cytogenetic response (CCyR). Furthermore, KIR2DS1 was the only factor predicting shorter progression-free (PFS) (RR ¼ 3.1, P ¼ 0.03) and overall survival (OS) (RR ¼ 2.6, P ¼ 0.04). The association between KIR2DS1 and CCyR, PFS and OS was validated by KIR genotyping in 174 CML patients on first-line imatinib in the UK multi-center SPIRIT-1 trial; in this cohort, KIR2DS1( þ ) patients had significantly lower 2-year probabilities of achieving CCyR (76.9 vs 87.9%, P ¼ 0.003), PFS (85.3 vs 98.1%, P ¼ 0.007) and OS (94.4 vs 100%, P ¼ 0.015) than KIR2DS1(À) patients. The impact of KIR2DS1 on CCyR was greatest when the ligand for the corresponding inhibitory receptor, KIR2DL1, was absent (P ¼ 0.00006). Our data suggest a novel role for KIR-HLA immunogenetics in CML patients on TKI.