Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a common malignant tumor of the digestive system, and characterized by a high degree of malignancy, high metastasis rate and low surgical resection rate. In recent years, significant progress has been made in tumor immunotherapy due to the application of immune checkpoint inhibitors that are represented by antibodies against programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1). However, owing to the unique tumor microenvironment and low immunogenicity of PDAC, the immunotherapy of PDAC is still unsatisfactory. Here, the authors, combined with the microenvironmental characteristics of PDAC, address the latest research advances in terms of immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cellular immunity, and tumor vaccines in the treatment of PDAC, as well as their application prospects.