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.

Citation： WANG Xiaolu, WANG Jing. Research development of metaplastic breast cancer. CHINESE JOURNAL OF BASES AND CLINICS IN GENERAL SURGERY, 2018, 25(6): 761-766. doi: 10.7507/1007-9424.201711046 Copy