Many reports have shown that expression of the c-myc protooncogene represents an early event of lymphocyte activation. Calcium influx and activation of protein kinase C synergistically bypass the early signal transduction of lymphocyte activation. In this study, the c-myc message of B cells or B cell lines stimulated by 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), A23187, Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SAC), or anti-mu was not expressed or was poorly expressed in common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients whose B cells did not differentiate or only poorly differentiated to SAC plus recombinant interleukin 2, whereas the c-myc message of 1 CVID patient's B cells that differentiated well in IgM secretion to SAC plus recombinant interleukin 2 was well expressed when stimulated by TPA, A23187, SAC, or anti-mu. These results suggest that an abnormality exists in the early signal transduction process on some CVID patients' B cells and that it may be in the bypass by calcium influx and direct activation of protein kinase C.