Overexpression of c-myb in leukaemic and non-leukaemic variants of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Background: The c-myb oncogene is a transcription factor that regulates proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of haematopoietic cells and activated T cells by binding to promoter sequences of such genes as c-myc or bcl-2 that are expressed in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

Objective: Our study was performed in order to evaluate c-myb expression as a quantitative parameter for differential diagnosis in leukaemic and non-leukaemic variants of CTCL.

Methods: c-myb expression was analysed in lesional skin and in the peripheral blood of 21 patients with mycosis fungoides (MF), 15 patients with Sézary syndrome (SS) and 15 patients with inflammatory skin diseases using immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative as well as quantitative RT-PCR.