Xing Mengying, Zhang Shichang, Zha Xiaoming, Zhang Jiexin
Department of Laboratory Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Department of Breast Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Breast Care (Basel). 2022 Jun;17(3):321-329. doi: 10.1159/000517572. Epub 2021 Oct 6.
Plasma cell mastitis (PCM), also known as mammary duct ectasia, is a chronic nonbacterial breast inflammation characterized by duct expansion and plasma cell infiltration. The severe and intense clinical manifestations profoundly affect the quality of life of female patients. Although the pathological process of PCM is known to include four stages (duct dilatation, inflammation, abscess and fistula), there is still lack of imaging techniques and serum markers with high specificity in clinical practice. Due to recurrent acute attacks and the prolonged healing process of the disease, most patients choose to accept mastectomy.
We searched for studies, reports and reviews referring to PCM in the past 20 years; more than half of the results were related to animal studies, and little attention has been paid to human beings, which may explain the frequent misdiagnosis of PCM as breast cancer and the limited treatment options. This review focuses on the current diagnostic methods and markers for PCM and hierarchically discusses the typical clinical features, etiological causes and relevant molecular mechanisms of PCM.
We herein highlight the urgent need to develop more specific and sensitive biomarkers in the clinical laboratory. It will help to establish a standardized flowchart for the diagnosis and treatment of PCM in order to improve recovery for female patients.
浆细胞性乳腺炎（PCM），又称乳腺导管扩张症，是一种以导管扩张和浆细胞浸润为特征的慢性非细菌性乳腺炎症。其严重且剧烈的临床表现深刻影响女性患者的生活质量。尽管已知PCM的病理过程包括四个阶段（导管扩张、炎症、脓肿和瘘管形成），但临床实践中仍缺乏高特异性的影像学技术和血清标志物。由于该疾病反复发作且愈合过程漫长，大多数患者选择接受乳房切除术。
我们检索了过去20年中提及PCM的研究、报告和综述；结果一半以上与动物研究相关，对人类的关注较少，这可能解释了PCM常被误诊为乳腺癌以及治疗选择有限的原因。本综述聚焦于PCM目前的诊断方法和标志物，并分层讨论了PCM的典型临床特征、病因及相关分子机制。
我们在此强调临床实验室迫切需要开发更具特异性和敏感性的生物标志物。这将有助于建立PCM诊断和治疗的标准化流程，以提高女性患者的康复效果。
