RESUMO
Pancreatic cancer is one of the cancers with poor prognosis at present, which has high resistance to various anti-tumor drugs as a result of the interaction among pancreatic cancer cells, cancer stem cells, and the tumor microenvironment. P2X7 receptors are extracellular adenosine triphosphate(ATP)-gated nonselective cation channels, which have many biological functions including being involved in cell signal transduction and cytokine secretion, mediate cell survival and growth. Studies have shown that P2X7 receptor is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer and promotes the proliferation, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells by supporting proliferation of pancreatic stellate cells and regulating the expressed of the MMP2/MMP9 protein. The paper reviews the recent research advances of P2X7 receptor in pancreatic cancer.