Objective To summarize the research progress of pathogenetic and development mechanism of phyllodes tumor of breast (PTB). Method Summarizing the studies on pathogenetic and development mechanism of PTB by searching PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang databases, and then make a review. Results Currently, there was no uniform conclusion on the pathogenetic and development mechanism of PTB, though many factors may involve in the pathogenesis of PTB. PTB may be derived from fibroadenoma, and some studies suggested that it was closely related to hormonal receptor disorders, epithelial mesenchymal transition mechanism, gene mutation, and so on. Conclusion The pathogenetic and development mechanism of PTB is not clear yet and more researches are needed to confirm it.