A male patient, 43 years old, underwent hepatic mass resection in May 2013 at an outside hospital, and the pathology confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma. One month later, an enhanced CT showed intrahepatic recurrence, and a total of 3 interventions (hepatic artery cannulation chemoembolization, i.e., TACE) and 6 hepatic puncture anhydrous alcohol intratumoral injections (PEIT) were performed, and the lesion was still recurrent.In January 2015, a follow-up liver enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in our hospital and suggested a recurrent lesion in the right lobe of the liver, with a diameter of about 9 mm, and cirrhosis of the liver with ascites. Due to the remote location of the cancerous mass, there was no access path under ultrasound, and PEIT could not be performed, and because the patient refused intervention or gamma knife radiotherapy, he had to be treated with Chinese medicine. The program was: 2 kinds of Chinese patent medicines with herbs (tonics), all prescribed by the author according to the four diagnostic data of looking, listening, questioning, and cutting, and taken every day.In April 2015, he came to the hospital for review of liver enhancement magnetic resonance suggesting that: recurrent lesion in the right lobe of the liver, diameter of about 10 mm, cirrhosis of the liver. Although the cancer mass changed from 9mm to 10mm, which was considered as a measurement error, combined with the patient’s ascites disappeared and liver function was basically normal, the comprehensive judgment was that the traditional Chinese medicine was effective and the cancer mass remained stable. The patient increased his confidence, still refused western intervention or gamma knife radiotherapy, chose Chinese medicine treatment, and was discharged with medication. [Analysis] The patient’s cancer recurred one month after surgery, which indicates two points: first, surgery can remove visible cancer, but invisible cancer cells are easy to remain and become the seeds of recurrence; second, surgery damages the body’s immunity and qi and blood, which leads to recurrence in a short period of time. Therefore, surgery is an important means of treatment, but it is not a panacea. The patient underwent 3 times of intervention and 6 times of PEIT after recurrence, but the cancer cells still emerged, indicating that the soil of liver is suitable for the growth of cancer cells. Western medical treatment eliminated the emerging cancer cells, but the soil was not improved, treating the symptoms but not the root cause, and the patient’s confidence was undermined, which is the limitation of Western medical treatment. After being treated by pure Chinese medicine, on the one hand, the patient’s cancer mass remains stable. Imagine if traditional Chinese medicine is ineffective, the cancer mass should grow or develop more or metastasize after three months, but these situations did not occur in reality, which suggests that traditional Chinese medicine has a certain controlling effect on the cancer mass; on the other hand, the patient’s ascites disappeared, which suggests that traditional Chinese medicine has a therapeutic effect on the ascites in cirrhosis of the liver. The side effects of traditional Chinese medicine are very small, and the cost is relatively low compared with western medicine, and if the medicine is right for the symptoms, the curative effect will be exact.