The association between CD28 gene rs3116496 polymorphism and breast cancer risk in Chinese women

T-lymphocyte activation plays an important role in suppressing the development of human cancers including breast cancer (BC). Cluster of differentiation 28 (CD28) is the primary T-cell costimulatory molecule and enhances T-cell activation and proliferation. To examine the role of CD28 gene polymorphism in BC, we conducted a case–control study involving 312 BC patients and 312 controls in a Chinese Han population. Bioinformatics analyses were conducted to analyze the expression level of CD28 and its association with overall survival (OS) of BC. Genotyping was performed using a custom-by-design 48-Plex single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Scan™ Kit. Our results indicated that CD28 mRNA level was down-regulated in the BC patients, whereas high expression of CD28 showed better OS for BC. In addition, an increased risk of BC was associated with the rs3116496 CC genotype of CD28 gene (CC vs. TT). The significant association was also observed in the recessive model. In conclusion, CD28 may be a tumor suppressor gene and rs3116496 polymorphism of CD28 gene showed positively correlation with the increased risk of BC. However, larger studies with more diverse ethnic populations are needed to confirm these results.