Objective: To explore the application effect of liver enhanced CT and liver MRI in patients with liver malignant tumor.Methods: From June 2022 to June 2025, 72 patients with suspected liver cancer admitted to xinmi city Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were selected to participate in the study. All the patients were given enhanced CT and MRI techniques to analyze the diagnostic quality.Results: Gold standard diagnosis: 61 cases were positive; 11 cases were negative. Liver MRI was positive in 60 cases; 12 cases were negative. The accuracy, specificity and sensitivity of liver MRI were 95.83%, 90.91% and 96.72%, respectively, which were higher than those of liver enhanced CT (87.50%, 90.91% and 86.89%). The number of intrahepatic lesions and extrahepatic lesions in liver MRI was higher than that in liver enhanced CT (P < 0.05). The accuracy of liver MRI in diagnosing lesion diameter was higher than that of liver enhanced CT (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Liver MRI technology has a remarkable effect in the diagnosis of liver cancer, which can improve the accuracy of diagnosis of tiny lesions and provide help for follow-up treatment, and is worth popularizing.