The incidence of malignant tumors continues to rise, and modern medicine still faces challenges in therapeutic efficacy and improvement in quality of life. Guided by the holistic concept of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), TCM intervenes in susceptible constitutions and precancerous lesions in prevention of malignant tumors based on the concept of "preventive treatment of disease", synergizes with modern medicine and implements individualized regulation based on syndrome differentiation during treatment, promotes recovery through the principles of "reinforcing vital qi to consolidate the constitution" and "nourishing both the body and the mind" for rehabilitation period, providing support for the comprehensive management of tumors and helping patients to live with tumors and improve their quality of life. This article reviews the characteristics and advantages of TCM based on the holistic concept in cancer prevention (preventive treatment of disease), treatment (synergistic efficacy and syndrome differentiation), and rehabilitation (strengthening vital root and nourishing body and spirit). It aims to address current problems such as insufficient evidence levels and lack of standardization and to provide a reference for future studies using integrated evaluation systems and refined syndrome differentiation research to enhance the standardization and evidence quality of TCM applications in the field of oncology.