Objective To summarize the progress of research about the relationship between papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Method The relevant literatures at home and abroad in recent years about this topic were collected and analyzed. Results Comprehensive literature reviewed, combined with the author's clinical research results, PTC and HT were indeed closely related, or there was a certain causal link. HT and PTC might both come from the same embryonic stem cells. HT was an autoimmune thyroid disease caused by abnormal immune response, and might be a triggering factor of PTC. Meanwhile, lymphocyte infiltration might play a certain protective role in anti-tumor effect. RET chromosome rearrangement, RAS point mutation and BRAF gene mutation might activate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, especially in PTC cases with HT in which RET chromosome rearrangement was more common. In the future, selective targeted therapy aiming at the activation of RET/RAS/BRAF/MAPK pathway was a promising treatment especially in advanced PTC cases. Conclusions The correlation between PTC and HT is not fully clarified. HT is a potential risk factor for PTC but the cases of PTC with HT have a better prognosis. More prospective studies will help to further clarify the correlation between two diseases.