Chronic inflammation, caused by persistent stimuli or other reasons, often progress to nonresolving inflammation. It contributes significantly to pathogenesis of many diseases. In recent years, the key role of chronic inflammation in the development of cancer is widely recognized and the mechanism involved has become one of the research hotspots of life science. To date, much progress has been made in this area. This review will make an overview about the link between chronic inflammation and cancer and the underlying mechanisms, and then focus on the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway in mediating chronic inflammation induced cancer promotion and the potential direction for future research. It is hoped to open a new window for understanding the pathways linking chronic inflammation and malignant transformation.