Granulomatous lobular mastitis: diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers
- 1First Clinical Medical College, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- 2Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Abstract
Granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM) is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory breast disease of elusive etiology that presents formidable challenges in clinical management. This clinically oriented review synthesizes current evidence on biomarkers according to their potential applications in GLM diagnosis, differential diagnosis, disease-activity assessment, abscess prediction, recurrence surveillance, and treatment guidance. We critically evaluate conventional inflammatory indices, endocrine markers, immune-cell phenotypes, cytokines, complement-related markers, and emerging molecular signatures, while considering the influence of specimen type, disease stage, comparator population, and assay methodology on reported findings. Recent single-cell transcriptomic and metabolomic studies have expanded the biomarker landscape beyond circulating proteins, whereas epitranscriptomic regulation and immune-cell metabolic reprogramming remain emerging areas with limited direct GLM-specific evidence. Overall, routinely available markers such as CRP, ESR, NLR, SII, and prolactin currently offer the greatest clinical accessibility but limited disease specificity, whereas novel immune and molecular biomarkers remain largely exploratory. Future multicenter prospective studies integrating clinical, imaging, and molecular data are needed to develop robust biomarker panels and support precision management of GLM.
Related
- Pan-cancer estimation of prognostic immune biomarkers from histopathology using artificial intelligence
- Identification of shared diagnostic biomarkers and immune-related mechanisms between sepsis and thoracic aortic aneurysm based on integrated bioinformatics and machine learning approaches
- Identification of prognostic biomarkers for nasopharyngeal carcinoma through microRNA‑mRNA network analysis combined with screening of immune‑related genes
- Deciphering Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype Switching via Integrated Single-Cell Transcriptomics and Machine Learning: CX3CR1 and COL1A1 as Novel Diagnostic Biomarkers for Atherosclerosis
- Inflammatory biomarkers in pyogenic spinal infection: evidence, limitations, and integrated diagnostic perspectives
BibTeX
@article{yang2026granulomatous,
title = {{Granulomatous lobular mastitis: diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers}},
author = {Xi Yang and Jingwei Li and Hongyi Liang},
journal = {Frontiers in Immunology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2026.1960862},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1960862/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Granulomatous lobular mastitis: diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers
AU - Xi Yang
AU - Jingwei Li
AU - Hongyi Liang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - Frontiers in Immunology
DO - 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1960862
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1960862/full
AB - Granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM) is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory breast disease of elusive etiology that presents formidable challenges in clinical management. This clinically oriented review synthesizes current evidence on biomarkers according to their potential applications in GLM diagnosis, differential diagnosis, disease-activity assessment, abscess prediction, recurrence surveillance, and treatment guidance. We critically evaluate conventional inflammatory indices, endocrine markers, immune-cell phenotypes, cytokines, complement-related markers, and emerging molecular signatures, while considering the influence of specimen type, disease stage, comparator population, and assay methodology on reported findings. Recent single-cell transcriptomic and metabolomic studies have expanded the biomarker landscape beyond circulating proteins, whereas epitranscriptomic regulation and immune-cell metabolic reprogramming remain emerging areas with limited direct GLM-specific evidence. Overall, routinely available markers such as CRP, ESR, NLR, SII, and prolactin currently offer the greatest clinical accessibility but limited disease specificity, whereas novel immune and molecular biomarkers remain largely exploratory. Future multicenter prospective studies integrating clinical, imaging, and molecular data are needed to develop robust biomarker panels and support precision management of GLM.
SN - 1664-3224
ER -