Objective: To compare the therapeutic effect and quality of life of patients with recurrent and metastatic breast cancer undergoing octreotide plus letrozole therapy and salvage chemotherapy. Methods: Sixty-one recurrent and metastatic breast cancer patients whose somatostatin receptor (SSTR), estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR) were positive, were designated to octreotide plus letrozole treatment group (Letrozole adminstered orally at a dose of 2.5 mg once daily, continuous uninterrupted schedule; octreotide given at a dose of 0.1 mg three times daily by subcutaneous injection for five consecutive days and 2-day discontinuation a week. A total of six cycles, with each consisting of two consecutive weeks in a month) and salvage chemotherapy group (Salvage therapies with different chemotherapy regimens recommended by the NCCN guidelines for a total of six cycles). The clinical efficacies, adverse reactions and patients’ quality of life of the two groups were observed and compared. Results: The response rate (the sum of CR and PR), benefit rate (the sum of CR, PR and SD), median time to progression (TTP), median time to treatment failure (TTF) and median survival time (MST) in octreotide plus letrozole treatment group were respectively 29.0% (9/31), 41.9% (13/31), 6.6, 5.6 and 18.7 months, and salvage chemotherapy group were 26.7% (8/30), 43.3% (13/30) , 6.1, 5.4 and 17.9 months, respectively. There were no significant differences regarding to the above-mentioned parameters between the two groups (all P>0.05). However, the incidences of toxic and adverse reactions in octreotide plus letrozole treatment group were significantly lower than those in salvage chemotherapy group, and the patients’ quality of life in octreotide plus letrozole treatment group was significantly better than that in salvage chemotherapy group (χ2=13.81, P=0.003). Conclusion: Octreotide plus letrozole regimen is an effective treatment for advanced breast cancer. It can significantly reduce the adverse reactions of the salvage chemotherapy and improve the quality of life of these patients.