To evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine （GEM） at 30 min standard-dose infusion （30 min-SDI） compared with prolonged low-dose infusion （P-LDI） in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer （NSCLC）. Electronic databases including Pubmed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM, and VIP were searched using keywords ＂GEM＂, ＂P-LDI＂, and ＂NSCLC＂. Review Manager 5.3 was used to perform the recta-analysis. Primary endpoints were overall response rate （ORR） and 1-year survival rate （1-year SR）. Secondary endpoints were grade 3/4 hematotoxicity and nausea/vomiting. Six randomized controlled trials （RCTs） with a total of 637 patients were included. The results showed that P-LDI was superior in ORR （OR = 1.50, 95% CI： 1.08-2.10, P = 0.02）, but had an equal 1-year SR （OR = 1.27, 95 % CI： 0.90-1.79, P = 0.18） as compared with 30 min-SDl. For grade 3/4 adverse events, there was no significant difference in anemia （OR = 1.84, 95% CI： 0.61-5.57, P = 0.28） and nausea/vomiting （OR = 1.15, 95% CI： 0.63-2.12, P = 0.64） between the two treatments. However, patients with P-LDI experienced less leukopenia （OR = 0.64, 95% CI： 0.43-0.97, P = 0.04） and thrombocytopenia （OR = 0.37, 95% CI： 0.17-0.80, P = 0.01）. P-LDI was superior in terms of ORR, experienced less grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia and leukopenia compared with 30 min-SDI, and could be a viable treatment option for advanced NSCLC.
