ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) for cancer-associated venous thromboembolism.MethodsStudies about the efficacy and safety of NOACs versus low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) or vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for cancer-associated venous thromboembolism were collected by searching PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data and CBM databases from inception to August, 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed by RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 8 studies involving 2 448 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: there was no significant difference in the recurrent VTE rate (OR=0.74, 95%CI 0.49 to 1.11, P=0.15) or bleeding rate (OR=0.80, 95%CI 0.57 to 1.13, P=0.21) between NOACs group and VKAs group. The major bleeding rate was significantly higher in the VKAs group than in the NOACs group (OR=0.47, 95%CI 0.27 to 0.84, P=0.01). The incidences of recurrent VTE (OR=0.84, 95%CI 0.16 to 4.14, P=0.83), bleeding (OR=0.46, 95%CI 0.18 to 1.20, P=0.11), major bleeding (OR=0.45, 95%CI 0.12 to 1.60, P=0.21) were similar between NOACs group and LMWHs group.ConclusionsThe current evidence indicates that for cancer patients with VTE, NOACs are superior to warfarin and comparable to LMWHs. Due to limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high quality studies are required to verify the above conclusion.