The soluble programmed death ligand-1 (sPD-L1) and its prognostic role in cancers has been investigated in numerous studies. However, due to the inconsistency on some findings, this meta-analysis was performed to assess the prognostic value of sPD-L1 in patients with cancer.We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Wiley Online Library and ScienceDirect, and screened the studies for eligibility. Recurrence-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were for short term survival. The overall survival (OS) was for long term survival.Forty studies with 4441 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Elevated sPD-L1 was associated with short OS [HR = 2.44 (2.03-2.94), P = 0.000]. Moreover, high sPD-L1 was predictive of worse DFS/RFS/PFS [HR = 2.52 (1.83-3.44), P = 0.000]. In addition, high sPD-L1 was consistently correlated with poor OS in irrespective of study type, univariate and multivariate analysis, ethnicity, cut-off value of sPD-L1, sample and treatment. In the subgroup analysis, high sPD-L1 was correlated with poor OS in gastrointestinal cancer, lung cancer, hepatic cancer, esophageal cancer and clear cell renal cell carcinoma.The present meta-analysis showed that high level of sPD-L1 was associated with worse prognosis in some types of cancer.