Salinomycin is a monocarboxylic polyether potassium carrier antibiotic isolated from Streptomyces albus fermentation broth. It is widely used to control coccidiosis in poultry. In 2009, salinomycin was first found to have a specific inhibitory effect on breast cancer stem cells, and subsequent studies have shown that salinomycin can effectively inhibit the proliferation, metastasis and invasion of oral squamous cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer. Salinomycin plays an anti-tumor role by targeting cancer stem cells, reversing drug resistance of tumor cells, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, and regulating autophagy of tumor cells. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the specific anticancer mechanism of salinomycin and provide a theoretical basis for its further application in clinical practice.