Objective To reveal international research development on tumor photodynamic therapy (PDT) in recent twelve years from the view of literature metrology.Methods Literature records on tumor and photodynamic therapy from 2000 to 2011 were retrieved in SCI-expanded database，and literature analysis tools such as Histcite，Ucinet and TDA were used to process data and present results.Results The distribution of time，countries，institutions and journals was revealed，and the citation historiography，the international cooperation network and the research fronts of recent years were presented in visualized scientific maps and tables.Conclusions The number of related literature increased stably from 2000 to 2011.The related literature distributed in 75 countries and regions，and in 3412 institutions.Harvard University，Pennsylvania University and Roswell Cancer Institute did more intensive studies in this field.America，Germany，and China published more papers.America，Germany and Britain kept in close cooperation with other countries，while China in less cooperation with other countries.The key contents of tumor photodynamic therapy research have developed from basic theory and clinical practice to the intensive study on molecular mechanism and the application of new technical method.