Objective: To systematically evaluate the diagnostic value of detection of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) expression in male breast cancer patients through Meta-analysis. Methods: The case-control studies concerning relationship between HIF-1α and male breast cancer were collected by searching the national and international databases, and the time period of search ranged from February 2006 to June 2014. Meta-analysis was performed on the results of the eligible studies by RevMan 5.1 software. Results: A total of 6 studies were selected, involving 475 male patients in case group and 256 female patients in control group. Results of Meta-analysis showed that the positive rate of HIF-1α expression in male breast cancer patients was significant higher than that in female patients with breast cancer (OR=1.29, 95% CI=0.93–1.79); results of heterogeneity tests showed no statistical heterogeneity among the studies (χ2=7.61, P=0.18, I2=34%); pooled result showed that the difference had no statistical significance (Z=1.54, P>0.05); publication bias analysis demonstrated the authenticity of this Meta-analysis. Conclusion: Detection of HIF-1α expression level has certain diagnostic value for early breast cancer in male patients, and it can be used as one of the reference indexes. However, the above conclusion still needs verification by high-quality and large-scale studies due to the limitation in quality and sample size of the included studies.