Phosphate modified calcium aluminate cement（CAPC） is a new type of cementitious materials， the typical chemical reaction of which is that calcium aluminate cement reacts with water-soluble phosphate to generate insoluble phosphate with cementation properties. The major advances in CAPC since its proposal about three decades ago are summarized in this paper， including the raw materials， setting and hardening mechanism， fluidity of fresh pastes， composition and structure of reaction products， mechanical properties and durability of hardened pastes. Then the applications of CAPC as refractories， corrosion protective layers and binders for immobilization of radioactive wastes are introduced. Current problems and development directions in the research and applications of CAPC are finally discussed.