This study was purposed to investigate the expression level of oncogene c-myc and c-myb in leukemic cells and leukemic bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) and the correlation with each other. The expression levels of c-myc and c-myb in those cells were examined semi-quantitatively by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Flow cytometry analysis was used to detect the membrane surface antigens of leukemic cells and BMSC. The karyotype was analyzed by G-banding techniques. The results showed that (1) c-myc and c-myb gene were expressed in the normal control group, the leukemic cells and BMSC of patients group. The mean expression levels of c-myb mRNA and c-myc mRNA in abnormal chromosomal leukemic cells were 1.03 ± 0.48 and 1.15 ± 0.38 respectively, which were significantly higher than those in control group (P < 0.05). In the abnormal karyotype stromal cells, the mean expression level of c-myb mRNA and c-myc mRNA were 2.08 ± 0.82 and 1.46 ± 0.29 respectively (P < 0.05). (2) The expression level of c-myc and c-myb mRNA were closely associated with patients' platelet counts (P < 0.05). (3) The expression of c-myc mRNA linearly correlated with the expression of c-myb mRNA in different prognostic groups. (4) In acute leukemic cells and BMSC, c-myc expression positively correlated with c-myb expression. (5) The expression level of c-myc in leukemic cells correlated with the expression levels of c-myc and c-myb in BMSC, respectively. It is concluded that the reduction of c-myc or c-myb expression levels may be a therapeutic regimen for leukemia.