Pancreatic cancer stem cells (PCSCs) play an important role in the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer, and are also closely related to the mechanisms for chemotherapy resistance and metastasis of pancreatic cancer. Investigations of PCSCs with regard to their surface markers, isolation, identification, signal pathways, microenvironment, drug resistance, metastasis and targeted therapy may provide a new prospect for the clinical treatment of pancreatic cancer.