Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of high intensity interval training(HIIT) in cancer patients. Methods We searched databases including Cochrane Library,PubMed,Embase,Web of Science,CINAHL,CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,and CBM from inception to January 2019,and included randomized controlled trials(RCTs) reporting the effectiveness of HIIT in cancer patients. Literature screening,information extraction and quality evaluation were conducted by 2 reviewers,and RevMan 5.3 software was adopted for meta-analysis. Results A total of 8 RCTs with 970 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that HIIT could increase VO2peak,muscular strength[SMD=0.23,95%CI(0.07,0.58),P<0.01;MD=2.38,95%CI(1.08,3.68),P<0.001] and improve cancer related fatigue[SMD=-0.26,95%CI(-0.48,-0.04),P=0.02],and improve quality of sleep and quality of life[SMD=-0.25, 95%CI(-0.47,-0.04),P<0.05;SMD=0.28,95%CI(0.13,0.43),P<0.001]. The effectiveness on anxiety and depression was not statistically significant[SMD=0.05,95%CI(-0.12,0.22),P=0.54;MD=-0.08,95%CI(-0.25,0.09),P=0.34]. Conclusion HIIT is effective on improving VO2peak,muscle strength,quality of sleep,cancer related fatigue and quality of life. As all the studies included in this meta-analysis are foreign literature with heterogeneity among some outcome indicators,pilot trials with small samples can be carried out in the future to further explore the applicability and feasibility of HIIT in cancer patients in China,so as to provide more evidence for the implementation of HIIT for cancer patients.