Photodynamic therapy is a newly emerging treatment modality against cancer, which has high selectivity and less toxicity compared with traditional treatment modalities. At present, photodynamic therapy has been used to treat several types of gastrointestinal cancers such as gastric cancer, colorectal cancer and squamous cell anal cancer, and shown significant efficacy in some patients. However, there is a lack of large randomized controlled trials. Here, the authors review the studies on photodynamic therapy for gastrointestinal cancers conducted at home and abroad in recent years, so as to provide support for both basic research and clinical practice.