癌症是全球第二大死亡原因，仅次于心血管疾病。尽管引入了几种延长生存的治疗方式，包括靶向治疗和免疫治疗，但对于转移性疾病的总体预后仍然具有挑战性。因此，鉴定与癌症诊断和预后相关的新分子生物标志物和治疗靶点至关重要。 DNA聚合酶δ复合物的催化和校对亚基DNA聚合酶δ 1（POLD1）在DNA复制和修复过程中扮演关键角色。近年来，POLD1基因的遗传和体细胞突变已广泛存在于数种恶性肿瘤中。此外，已报道多样化的POLD1表达谱与各种肿瘤类型的临床病理特征相关联。本文旨在总结POLD1在癌症中的作用的当前知识。此外，我们讨论评估肿瘤中POLD1突变和表达模式在未来前景和临床应用方面的展望。

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, exceeded only by cardiovascular disease. Despite the introduction of several survival-prolonging treatment modalities, including targeted therapy and immunotherapy, the overall prognosis for the metastatic disease remains challenging. Therefore, the identification of new molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets related to cancer diagnosis and prognosis is of paramount importance. DNA polymerase delta 1 (POLD1), a catalytic and proofreading subunit of the DNA polymerase δ complex, performs a crucial role in DNA replication and repair processes. Recently, germline and somatic mutations of the POLD1 gene have been acknowledged in several malignancies. Moreover, diversified POLD1 expression profiles have been reported in association with clinicopathological features in a variety of tumor types. With this review, we aim to summarize the current knowledge on the role of POLD1 in cancers. In addition, we discuss the future prospects and clinical applications of the assessment of POLD1 mutation and expression patterns in tumors.