Analyses of the full data set indicated a marginally significant association of the APEX1 Asp148Glu polymorphism with cancer risk under allelic (odds ratio (OR)=1.05; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.99-1.11; P=0.071), dominant (OR=1.09; 95% CI: 1.01-1.17; P=0.028), and heterozygous genotypic (OR=1.08; 95% CI: 1.01-1.16; P=0.026) models, with significant heterogeneity and publication bias. This evidence concerns the gene APEX1 and cancer.