In the process of the surgical treatment of liver cancer, blood flow occlusion at the porta hepatis is an important method to reduce intraoperative bleeding, and ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) resulting from such occlusion has an important effect on tumor cell. IRI can not only lead to tumor recurrence and metastasis, but also exert an inhibitory effect on tumor. Such influence is associated with various factors including free radicals, nitric oxide, inflammatory cytokines, and enzymes. An understanding of such effect and related mechanisms is of great importance to the research on the association between IRI and liver cancer and the selection of treatment methods for liver cancer.