Granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM) is a rare form of chronic inflammatory breast disease which may be sometimes difficult to distinguish from breast cancer. The cause of GLM is unknown, but may be associated with autoimmunity, abnormal hormone levels and infection. While GLM has no specific clinical manifestations, the diagnosis is principally established by histopathology. Therapeutic options for GLM range from observation to various medical treatments, such as steroids, immunosuppressants, and antibiotics, to surgical intervention. However, there are still many difficulties in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of GLM, and there is still no unified diagnosis and treatment consensus. So, we accomplished the present review through reviewing GLM-related domestic and foreign literature, aiming to provide the basis for rational clinical diagnosis and treatment.