〔Abstract〕 Objective To explore the effect of apurinic-apyrimidinic endonuclease 1(APE-1) on the tumorigenic ability and PKM2 expression of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in nude mice and its mechanism. Methods Based on silencing APE-1 expression of hepatocellular carcinoma Hep 3 B stable cell line, BALB/c-Nude nude mice were subcutaneously tumorigenic. The APE-1 silencing group was inoculated with APE-1 silenced cells, and the control group was inoculated with cells transfected with blank plasmids, 10 nude mice per group. After 8 weeks, the nude mice were sacrificed, the tumor formation rate was calculated, the tumor tissue was completely excised, the tumor weight was weighed, and the tumor volume was calculated. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to detect the expression of APE-1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) and Ki-67 in tumor tissues. After detecting the expression of PKM2 protein, based on the data of 374 patients with liver cancer in the TCGA database, the correlation between APE-1 and PKM2 expression was analyzed, and the difference in survival curves of PKM2 expression was compared. Results The tumor formation rate of the nude mice in both groups was 100%. The tumor weight and volume of the APE-1 silenced group were lower than those of the control group(P<0.05). The expressions of APE-1, PCNA, Ki-67 and PKM2 in APE-1 silencing group were lower than those in the control group(P<0.05). There was a linear positive correlation between APE-1 and PKM2 expression(P<0.001), and there was a difference in the overall survival curve between PKM2 in the high expression group and the low expression group(P<0.001). The low expression group had a longer survival time. Conclusion APE-1 may inhibit the tumorigenic ability of hepatocarcinoma cells in nude mice by affecting PKM2, which has strong anti-tumor potential.