Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers because of its nearly identical mortality and morbidity rates, and how to improve the early detection rate, treatment and prognosis of this disease is presently an urgent issue. Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found in pancreatic cancer at its early stage, so miRNAs may be used as tumor markers for early detection of pancreatic cancer. In this paper, the authors, after reviewing the advances and current problems in early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, address the potentially important role of miRNAs in early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.