Objective To understand pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of metaplastic breast cancer (MBC), and to provide some new ideas for clinical diagnosis and treatment, and exploration of scientific research for it. Method The relevant literatures of the latest research on MBC were reviewed and analyzed. Results At present, the pathogenesis of the MBC was still uncertain. The incidence of the MBC was lower, and it’s clinical manifestations were not specific. Compared with the invasive breast cancer, the tumor diameter was larger, the growth was faster, the differentiation degree was lower, the risks of the local and distant metastases were higher, while the lymph node metastasis was rare. Because of the clinical manifestation, auxiliary examination, and imaging examinations were lack of specificity, the diagnosis was difficult. Although the preoperative puncture could provide a reliable diagnosis evidence, it was difficult for distinguishing and accurate diagnosis due to it’s more subtypings. Some of the specific molecular targets could provide a help for it. At present, the modified radical mastectomy was often performed, the axillary lymph node metastasis was relatively rare in the MBC, so the sentinel lymph node biopsy was more important in the treatment of the MBC. The therapeutic effect was limited by the endocrine therapy, targeted therapy, or neoadjuvant chemotherapy and was poor by the systemic chemotherapy. Although the radiotherapy and chemotherapy could improve the overall survival and prolong the disease-free survival and control the local recurrence, the difference of it’s therapeutic effect was great due to the complex MBC typing. Conclusions MBC is a highly malignant and strongly invasive tumor, and it has more subtypings. Clinical manifestation and preoperative examination are lack of specificity, hence it is easy for misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis. Unified treatment guideline is lack of, prognosis is poor. So, it needs to explore some new treatment methods and formulate standardized treatment guidelines in order to achieve a better therapeutic effect.
ObjectiveTo understand the current progress of surgical treatment, radiotherapy, chemical drug therapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy of metaplastic breast cancer (MBC), so as to provide reference for the clinical therapy selection of MBC. MethodThe literature relevant to MBC therapy research in recent years was comprehensively reviewed. ResultsAt present, the pathogenesis of MBC was not clear. The histopathology of MBC was more complex and the prognosis was poor. Compared with the invasive ductal carcinoma, the MBC patients had older age of onset, larger tumor diameter, faster growth and stronger invasiveness. The simple mastectomy was currently used in surgical treatment. The axillary lymph node involvement rate of MBC patients was lower, so the sentinel lymph node biopsy was widely used. The chemical drug therapy, endocrine therapy, and targeted therapy had limited effects on MBC patients. However, with its unique molecular expression by the genomic analysis of MBC and rise of precision medicine, targeted therapy and immunotherapy had become current research hotspots, providing potential therapeutic strategies for MBC patients. ConclusionsDue to the complex histopathology and poor prognosis of MBC, and most research on MBC is retrospective studies, lacking sufficient prospective studies with sufficient sample size, so there is currently no clear consensus on the optimal treatment method for MBC. In order to better improve prognosis of MBC patients, further in-depth research on MBC histopathology, prospective studies with sufficient sample size, and development of targeted and effective therapeutic drugs are needed in the future.