Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）， an insidious malignant tumor with high incidence and lethality， poses a major threat to physical and mental health of human beings. The pathological mechanism needs to be further studied. Surgery， radiotherapy， chemotherapy， and targeted drugs are effective but induce many adverse reactions. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has unique advantages and abundant clinical experience in the treatment of HCC. There has been an explosion of research on the pathways， targets， and mechanism of TCM against HCC from the perspective of molecular biology. According to previous research， Chinese medicinals or compound Chinese medicine prescriptions， directly or indirectly prevent the occurrence and progression of HCC through multiple pathways and targets， which is closely related to the pathophysiological processes such as cell proliferation， metastasis， apoptosis， autophagy， inflammatory response， and immune response. This paper summarizes and analyzes research on the action pathways and mechanisms of Chinese medicine against HCC. Specifically， isoliquiritigenin， dendrobium candidum and Yexiazhu compound Ⅱ regulate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt） signaling pathway to inhibit the growth， proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. Toad venom and dioscorea zingiberensis induce and enhance HCC autophagy by modulating mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） signaling pathway. Myricetin， asparagus， and Biejiajian Wan regulate mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK） signaling pathway to promote HCC cell cycle arrest， inhibit angiogenesis， and induce apoptosis. Polygonum odoratum， tetragonum， and plantainoside modulate nuclear factor-kappa B （NF-κB） to inhibit inflammatory response and HCC metastasis and reduce drug resistance. Quercetin and erigeron breviscapus control the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （JAK2/STAT3） signaling pathway to suppress epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT） and remodel cytoskeleton. This paper is expected to lay a theoretical basis for the in-depth research on and clinical application of Chinese medicine in the treatment of HCC.

Traditional surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy still play a dominant role in the treatment of liver cancer; however, their application in liver cancer patients is often limited by the toxic and side effects, unstable efficacy, and unclear targets of chemotherapeutic drugs. Therefore, in order to improve the efficacy of drugs in the treatment of liver cancer, nanomedicine, which has been developed in the biomedical field in recent years, has attracted more and more attention. Nano-drug delivery system has been gradually applied in clinical research for its advantages of low toxicity, wide bioavailability, controllable drug release, and good stability. This article focuses on the latest research advances in nano-drug delivery system in the treatment of liver cancer.