In the present study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of Homoharringtonine （HHT） for chronic myelogenous leukemia （CML）. Databases, such as PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMbase, CENTRAL, VIP, WanFang Data, CBM and CNKI, were electronically searched from inception to May 2014 for clinical trials on HHT for CML. Literatures were independently screened by two reviewers based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data were extracted, and methodological quality was assessed accordingly. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2. Five trials were included consisting of a total of 423 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that the HHT group was superior to the hydroxycarbamide （HU） group in terms of complete hematologic response rate （CHR）, major cytogenetic responses （MCyR） rate, partial cytogenetic responses （PCyR） rate, blast rate and 4-year survival rate. There was no statistical difference in complete cytogenetic response （CCyR） and minor cytogenetic response （mCyR） rates between the HHT group and HU group. HHT caused less adverse reaction. Therefore, HHT alone showed considerable short-term and long-term efficacy in the treatment of late-phase CML. It could be a good choice for some CML. Since moderate selection bias might exist in the methodological quality of the included studies which might affect the authenticity of outcomes, our conclusions should be further proved by conducting more high-quality, large-scale and double-blinded randomized controlled trials （RCTs）.
