Backgroud: to investigate secondary glioblastoma (sGBM) patients undergoing resection and evaluate the impact of treatment on survival of malignant progression (PMS) and the prognostic factors of secondary glioblastoma. Method: the prognostic factors of secondary glioblastoma were analyzed retrospectively including gender, age, the interval between first diagnosis and second, the extent of resection, adjuvant treatment, postoperative Karnofsky score (KPS), 06-methylguanine-DNA methytransferase (MGMT) status, IDH1 mutation status, and PMS in patients with sGBM. Result: Thirty-four patients with sGBM were included in this study. Sixteen patients were female and eighteen were male. Median PMS in females was longer than male patients with sGBM (17.38 (95%CI 10.63–24.12) vs 10.06(95%CI 5.32–14.79), p = 0.032). 22(64.7%) patients achieved gross total resection (GTR),12(35.3%) patients achieved subtotal resection (STR). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that GTR significantly improved survival after malignant progression (PMS) compared with STR (17.18(95%CI 10.97–23.40) vs 7.17(95%CI 4.97–9.36), p = 0.004). Adjuvant treatment after resection was executed in 17 (50.0%) patients, radiotherapy in one (2.9%) patient, chemotherapy in seven (20.6%) patients, and radio-chemotherapy in nine (26.5%) patients. Median preoperative KPS was 80(range 30–100), and 85(range 30–100) after surgery. The difference in PMS probability was significant between patients having a good postoperative clinical status (KPS༞70)versus poor (KPS ≤ 70). Long term survival could be achieved in patients with a good clinical status (16.57(95%CI 10.54–22.60) vs 9.00(95%CI 3.66–14.34), p = 0.02). Patients with a greater interval after initial diagnosis had longer survival than those with intervals less than 26.5 months (18.62(95%CI 10.81–26.43) vs 9.22(95%CI 5.61–12.83), p = 0.025). Conclusion: GTR and any adjuvant treatment significantly improved PMS in patients with secondary glioblastoma. Gender, postoperative KPS, time interval since the first diagnosis are associated with prognosis.