Objective: To investigate the safety and efficacy of gemcitabine combined with capecitabine in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer after failure of anthracycline and taxanes. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 47 patients with metastatic breast cancer treated in our hospital from April 2013 to March 2018, gemcitabine and capecitabine were recommended, capecitabine 1 000 mg/m2 twice daily on days 1–14; gemcitabine 1 000 mg/m2 intravenous infusion, days 1 and 8, 21 d per cycle. Capecitabine maintenance therapy was performed after 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Results: Forty-seven patients underwent 204 cycles of chemotherapy altogether. One patient (2.1%) achieved complete responses (CR), 16 (34%) achieved partial responses (PR), and 13 (27.7%) achieved stable disease (SD).The median time to progression was 4.2 months (95%CI: 1.4–6.3), and the median overall survival was 11.5 months (95%CI: 9.6–14.2). Grade 3–4 adverse reactions were neutropenia (n=7, 14.9%), thrombocytopenia (7,14.9%) anemia (n=3, 6.4%), hand-foot syndrome (n=7, 14.9%), fatigue (n=5, 10.6%), liver function injury (n=2, 4.3%), renal function injury (n=2, 4.3%), oral mucositis (n=1, 2.1%), diarrhea (n=2, 4.3%). Conclusion: Gemcitabine plus capecitabine in treatment of metastatic breast cancer previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes, the efficacy is considerable and the adverse reactions are mild and controllable.