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BACKGROUND: It has been recognized that breast cancer stem cells play an important role in the occurrence, development, metastasis, recurrence and drug resistance of breast cancer, but the action mechanism of breast cancer stem cells in it is still unclear, and the treatment of breast cancer needs further improvement. OBJECTIVE: To explore the research status and development trend in the field of breast cancer stem cells from 2011 to 2020. METHODS: The relevant literature data in the field of breast cancer stem cell research were obtained from the Web of Science database, and the two-dimensional bar diagram of the corresponding data was drawn by Microsoft excel 2019. The co-occurrence analysis function of VOSviewer software was used to draw the co-occurrence analysis chart of keywords and its superposition with time. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) A total of 1 013 papers were included in this study. The number of papers, the H index, and the number of citations from the United States were the first in the world. The number of the literature on oncology is the largest. Sun Yat-Sen University is the largest producer of literature. WICHA MS is the author with the largest number of publications. National Natural Science Foundation of China supports the largest number of outputs. The largest number of publications is published in the ONCOTARGET. (2) The combination of chemotherapy and metformin and targeted antiangiogenic therapy are the key research contents in oncology. (3) In gene genetics, sox2, ezh2, and nanog are the key genes. (4) In the treatment of breast cancer stem cells, epithelial-mesenchymal transition is the main research content. (5) In molecular biology, cd24 and cd44 are the key biomarkers. (6) “Nuclear factor-κB” and “stemness” are the closest keywords to the present time. (7) Recombinant human receptor tyrosine kinase HRG/ErbB3 signals related to the nuclear factor-κB pathway, Pterostilbene and disulfiram are the research focus, and the epithelial/mesenchymal heterogeneity, miR34a-NOTCH1 axis and LINC00511/miR-185-3p/E2F1/ Nanog axis related to the stemness of breast cancer stem cells are the key research contents. (8) The United States has the highest link intensity with other countries in co-country analysis. (9) It is concluded that in the field of breast cancer stem cells, the United States is the most powerful country. The research direction in this field is gradually tending to the application of breast cancer stem cells to the treatment of breast cancer. The research of nuclear factor-κB and stemness may be the current research hotspots in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]