Objective To compare the efficacy of temozolomide (TMZ) and traditional chemotherapy drugs for glioma patients during postoperative radiotherapy.Methods PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP, and CBM were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing TMZ with traditional chemotherapy drugs (in addition to postoperative radiotherapy) for glioma patients published up to July 2013. Two researchers independently screened the studies according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. In the case of divergence during the extraction of data, consensus was reached by discussion or introduction of a third reviewer. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software.Results A total of 8 RCTs involving 864 patients were finally selected, with 374 cases in TMZ group and 490 cases in traditional chemotherapy drug group. Compared with the traditional chemotherapy drug group, the TMZ group had significantly increased response rate (RR=1.48,95% CI 1.24,1.77), 5-year survival rate (HR=23.94,95% CI 13.26,43.22), progression-free survival (MD=4.00,95% CI 2.61,5.39), and mean survival (SMD=1.84,95% CI 1.40,2.27) (P<0.05 for all) and significantly reduced incidence of alimentary tract reactions (RR=0.53,95% CI 0.39,0.71) and bone marrow suppression (RR=0.20,95% CI 0.08,0.51) (P<0.05 for all).Conclusions Compared with traditional chemotherapy drugs, TMZ has improved efficacy and reduced adverse effects and can prolong survival for glioma patients during postoperative radiotherapy.