Primary liver cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. It is a disease with high malignancy and poor prognosis, and is the second leading cause of cancer death in China. With the progress of medical science and technology, the treatment of primary liver cancer in China has made great progress and formed the treatment principle of “surgery-based comprehensive treatment”, which has improved the overall efficacy of liver cancer, prolonged the survival time of patients and further improved their life quality. 1.Surgical resection (radical resection, second-stage resection, volume reduction resection, liver transplantation, laparoscopic liver resection) Radical resection: surgical resection is still the best choice for liver cancer treatment, and “surgery-based comprehensive treatment” is still the basic principle of liver cancer treatment. So far, surgical radical resection is still recognized as the preferred treatment for liver cancer. Early resection is the key to improve the surgical efficacy of hepatocellular carcinoma. The 5-year survival rate after resection of early-stage liver cancer can reach over 60%. Second-stage resection: For mid- to late-stage liver cancer or large liver cancer that is difficult to be cured at once, hepatic artery ligation, embolization or local ablation treatment can be performed to shrink the tumor and improve the systemic conditions, and then selectively perform second-stage surgical resection, which can significantly improve the efficacy of liver cancer. Volume reduction resection: For multiple giant tumors, as long as the patient’s organism condition allows, volume reduction surgery combined with radiofrequency, microwave, freezing, intratumoral alcohol injection and interventional therapy can be used to improve the systemic condition and facilitate the next sequential comprehensive treatment, which can prolong the patient’s survival time with high quality, and even some patients can get the chance of radical surgery. Liver transplantation: It can be understood as an extension of hepatectomy. Since some patients with hepatocellular carcinoma have lost the opportunity for radical resection at the time of definite diagnosis, and since the basis of cirrhosis that occurs in primary hepatocellular carcinoma cannot be removed, total hepatectomy and liver transplantation techniques used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma is a reasonable consideration. Liver transplantation not only removes the tumor, but also removes the “soil” where the tumor occurs, and solves the problem of cirrhosis and portal hypertension, which is in line with the principle of radical tumor treatment and is an ideal treatment method. However, its cost is high and some patients cannot accept it, so its clinical application is somewhat limited. Laparoscopic liver resection: laparoscopic liver resection can be performed for superficial or anatomically appropriate liver cancer, which has the advantages of light postoperative pain, small abdominal wall trauma, small incision, short hospitalization time, early getting out of bed, and faster return to normal life. 2.Local treatment Local ablation of tumor includes thermal ablation, cryoablation and drug ablation. At present, the more applied methods include radiofrequency ablation, microwave curing, argon helium knife freezing treatment and intra-tumor anhydrous alcohol injection. Their common features are: (1) safe and effective for small hepatocellular carcinoma in special sites. (2) For larger hepatocellular carcinoma, it can be used as part of the comprehensive treatment. (3) Minimally invasive surgery, which can be repeated many times with less damage, less pain and faster recovery. (4) It can be used with open surgery as a supplement to surgical treatment. (5) The efficacy of some patients is close to that of radical surgery. 3.Interventional treatment Hepatic artery embolization chemotherapy (TACE) is one of the treatment methods for unresectable large hepatocellular carcinoma and multiple hepatocellular carcinomas. Interventional therapy has its incompleteness, it cannot completely stop the blood supply of tumor and cannot achieve the radical effect, but it can slow down the growth of tumor. Some patients who cannot be surgically resected may get the chance of radical surgery after embolization treatment. 4.Chinese traditional medicine and immunotherapy can reduce the pain of liver cancer patients, improve survival rate and quality of life, especially in reducing yellowing, ascites and chemotherapy reaction, and can be used as an adjuvant treatment. It can be used as an adjuvant treatment to treat the disease and can assist in surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and various interventional treatments, which can help improve the efficacy and survival quality of patients. In conclusion, various treatment methods for liver cancer can achieve certain efficacy, among which surgical resection has the best effect. Local tumor treatment techniques have largely improved the prognosis of liver cancer patients, especially those at advanced stages, but due to the diversity of liver cancer etiology, it is difficult to find a single effective method for liver cancer treatment, which makes comprehensive treatment an inevitable trend. However, comprehensive treatment is not a simple superposition of multiple methods, and if not properly integrated, the therapeutic effect may be counterproductive. There are many modes of integrated treatment, we should grasp two basic principles: (1) pay attention to the complementarity of various treatment methods; (2) avoid the antagonism of therapeutic effects or the superposition of side effects. An individualized treatment plan must be chosen according to the patient’s personal situation.