P2RX7 and cancer: Based on preclinical studies reporting a strong oncogenic role of this receptor, an increase of P2RX7 facilitates cell proliferation even in scenarios of trophic deprivation, promoting tumor cell proliferation, energy production, migration and invasiveness of cancer cells (Adinolfi et al., 2005; Adinolfi et al., 2012; Qiu et al., 2014; Amoroso et al., 2015; Gomez-Villafuertes et al., 2015; Amoroso et al., 2016).