Background: Anlotinib, a small molecule for multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibition, is the third or further line of defense for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results from an ALTER0303 phase III trial revealed that this drug confers significant survival benefits in patients. Although numerous inflammatory biomarkers play a vital role in treatment, none of them has focused on blood lipids before treatment. Here, we explored the relationship between blood lipids and efficacy of anlotinib, with a view of generating insights to guide future development of convenient and individualized treatment therapies. Methods: We analyzed basal blood lipids, including triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and high density lipoprotein (HDL), among other variables before treatment, in 137 patients with advanced NSCLC who received anlotinib as third or further-line treatment at the Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital, between July 2018 and December 2020. We selected the best cut off value for predicting treatment response, generated survival curves using the Kaplan–Meier method, then applied univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to assess predictors of survival. Results: The entire study population recorded median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of 4 (95% CI 3.142-4.858) and 8.3 (95% CI 6.843-9.757) months, respectively. We observed statistically significant differences across subgroup, between blood lipid indexes with different efficacies, except in the HDL subgroup. The low Disease control rate (DCR) was associated with significantly high TG, high TC and high LDL (P = 0.000). Results from multivariate analysis demonstrated that high TC and high LDL were independently associated with poor PFS or OS (P ≤ 0.003). We used these results to establish a prediction model, and set high TC or high LDL as risk factors, respectively. The outcomes significant difference between 0 and ≥1 scores in PFS (P = 0.000) and OS (P = 0.012).Conclusions: TC and LDL, before anlotinib therapy, were independent prognostic indicators for patients with advanced NSCLC who received this drug as a third or further-line of treatment. In addition, a risk score of 0 was attributed to a combination between low TC and low LDL, and these patients were exhibited excellent efficacy and survival rates.