MYB transcription factors are highly conserved from plants to vertebrates, indicating that their functions embrace fundamental mechanisms in the biology of cells and organisms. In humans, the MYB gene family is composed of three members: MYB, MYBL1 and MYBL2, encoding the transcription factors MYB, MYBL1, and MYBL2 (also known as c-MYB, A-MYB, and B-MYB), respectively. A truncated version of MYB, the prototype member of the MYB family, was originally identified as the product of the retroviral oncogene v-myb, which causes leukaemia in birds. This led to the hypothesis that aberrant activation of vertebrate MYB could also cause cancer. Despite more than three decades have elapsed since the isolation of v-myb, only recently investigators were able to detect MYB genes rearrangements and mutations, smoking gun evidence of the involvement of MYB family members in human cancer. In this review, we will highlight studies linking the activity of MYB family members to human malignancies and experimental therapeutic interventions tailored for MYB-expressing cancers.

MYB 转录因子从植物到脊椎动物高度保守，表明它们的功能包含细胞和生物体生物学中的基本机制。在人类中，MYB基因家族由三个成员组成：MYB、MYBL1和MYBL2，分别编码转录因子 MYB、MYBL1 和 MYBL2（也称为 c-MYB、A-MYB 和 B-MYB）。MYB 的截短版本，MYB 家族的原型成员，最初被确定为逆转录病毒致癌基因v-myb的产物, 导致鸟类白血病。这导致了脊椎动物 MYB 的异常激活也可能导致癌症的假设。尽管自分离 v-myb 以来已经过去了三十多年，但直到最近，研究人员才能够检测到MYB基因重排和突变，这是MYB家族成员参与人类癌症的确凿证据。在这篇综述中，我们将重点介绍将MYB家族成员的活动与人类恶性肿瘤联系起来的研究，以及为表达MYB的癌症量身定制的实验性治疗干预措施。