Abstract： Objective： To observe the clinical effect of Xuanyu Huadu tang assisting transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization for primary liver cancer and its effect on levels of matrix metalloproteinase- 2(MMP- 2) and MMP- 9 in serum. Methods：A total of 98 cases of patients with primary liver cancer in middle and advanced stage who were admitted and treated were divided into the control group and the observation group according to the random number table method， 49 cases in each group. The control group was given routine treatment including transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization(TACE)，and the observation group was additionally given Xuanyu Huadu tang based on the treatment of the control group，one dose per day，twice a day. After eight-week treatment，the clinical effect，the liver function， and levels of MMP- 2 and MMP- 9 in serum were compared between the two groups. Results： After chemotherapy， levels of aspartate aminotransferase(AST)，alanine aminotransferse(ALT)，and total bilirubin(TBil) were increased in the two groups，differences being significant(P＜0.01)；the three levels above in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group， differences being significant(P＜0.01). The levels of MMP- 2 and MMP- 9 in serum in the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment， and the two levels above in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group， differences being significant(P＜0.01)； recently， the short- term total effective rate of curative effect on solid tumor in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05). Conclusion： In the treatment of primary liver cancer， the therapy of Xuanyu Huadu tang assisting transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization can improve the liver function，inhibit levels of MMP- 2 and MMP- 9 in serum，and enhance the clinical effect.