Harnessing the inflammatory signature: a review for biomarkers in inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a highly aggressive breast cancer subtype characterized by rapid progression and poor survival outcomes. In recent years, research on the clinical and molecular features of IBC has brought new hope for its diagnosis and treatment. However, the prognosis of IBC remains extremely poor and novel biomarkers to identify the individual characteristics of patients with IBC are warranted. This review discussed the latest research on IBC biomarkers, especially the unique clinical IBC characterization-related biomarkers, including tumor emboli-related markers and tumor microenvironment (TME)-related markers. Biomarkers based on immune cells in the TME, such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), mast cells, cytokines, and chemokines (e.g. CCL2), may be involved in the development, progression, and treatment resistance of IBC. This study also identified effective biomarkers for IBC and emphasized unique clinical IBC characterization-related biomarkers that may provide strong evidence in IBC diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics.