The advances in functional nanomaterials offer great opportunities for the development of nanomedicine. In the last decade we have seen great progress in the synthesis and application of mesoporous carbon nanomaterials. As a new inorganic material, mesoporous carbon nanomaterials integrate the advantages of a mesoporous structure and carbonaceous composition, and have shown superior properties  compared with traditional mesoporous silica and other carbonbased materials, such as carbon nanotube, graphene, and fullerene. Mesoporous carbon nanomaterials have shown great promise in the fields including drug delivery and controlled release, photothermal therapy, synergistic therapy, cellstaining, catalysis, biosensor, and macromolecular separation. This review summarizes the primary techniques for preparing and modifying mesoporous carbon nanomaterials, with special emphasis on the applications of these materials in drug delivery and ondemand photothermaltriggered drug release. Finally, we present the challenges and opportunities in the development and clinical translations of this kind of nanomaterials.