Abstract: Invasion and metastasis are the signs of tumor progression and give rise to a major problem in clinical treatment of cancer and a main cause of death of cancer sufferers. Phospholipids are a class of lipids that not only are major components of cell membrane, but also take part in various biological functions of tumor cells such as proliferation, migration, adhesion, signaling, apoptosis and cell cycle regulation. In this review, the discussion focuses on the research progress of the correlation of cell membrane phospholipids with invasion, metastasis and targeted therapy of tumor. Components and distribution of membrane phospholipids, metabolites of phospholipids, phospholipases, and phospholipid binding proteins play major roles in tumor cell membrane fluidity, adhesion, apoptosis, proliferation, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and lymphoangiogenesis. As targets, cell membrane phospholipids and their metabolites will have a broad prospect for targeted therapy of malignant tumors.