BackgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac complication during cancer treatment. It is unclear if cancer survivors have increased AF risk when compared to the population. AF screening is now recommended in patients ≥65 years, however there are no specific recommendations in the oncology population. We sought to compare the AF detection rate of cancer survivors compared to the general population.MethodsWe searched the Pubmed, Embase and Web of Science databases using search terms related to AF and cancer mapped to subject headings. We included English language studies, limited to adults > 18 years who were > 12 months post completion of cancer treatment. Using a random-effects model we calculated the overall AF detection rate. Meta-regression analysis was performed to assess for potential causes for study heterogeneity.ResultsSixteen studies were included in the study. The combined AF detection rate amongst all the studies was 4.7% (95% C.I 4.0-5.4%), which equated to a combined annualised AF rate of 0.7% (95% C.I 0.1–0.98%). There was significant heterogeneity between studies (I2= 99.8%, p < 0.001). In the breast cancer cohort (n = 6 studies), the combined annualised AF rate was 0.9% (95% C.I 0.1–2.3%), with significant heterogeneity (I2= 99.9%, p < 0.001).ConclusionWhilst the results should be interpreted with caution due to study heterogeneity, AF rates in patients with cancer survival >12 months were not significantly increased compared to the general population.Study RegistrationOpen Science Framework - DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/APSYG.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40959-023-00180-3.