NCIt definition : An eicosapentaenoic acid derivative with potential antineoplastic activities. Upon
oral administration, eicosapentaenoic acid monoacylglyceride (MAG-EPA) may inhibit
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor
(VEGFR) and serine/threonine protein kinase AKT (protein kinase B)-mediated signaling
pathways and reduce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible
factor 1-alpha (HIF1-alpha) expression levels in tumor cells. This may promote apoptosis
and inhibit tumor cell growth in cells expressing EGFR, AKT, and VEGFR. MAG-EPA may
also inhibit androgen-stimulated tumor cell growth and repress androgenic induction
of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) expression. PSA, a tumor associated antigen (TAA),
is expressed by prostate epithelial cells and is overexpressed in prostate cancer.
The AKT signaling pathway is often dysregulated in cancer and is associated with tumor
cell proliferation, survival and migration. EGFR and VGFR are receptor tyrosine kinases
that are mutated or upregulated in many tumor cell types and play a key role in tumor
cell proliferation and tumor vascularization.;