C tier · mixed
Drostanolone propionate genuinely held a human oncology indication for advanced inoperable breast cancer and generated a real, if small and largely pre-1990 clinical literature, but it has been withdrawn from every market and no modern controlled data exist.
drostanolone
Drostanolone is a 2-alpha-methylated dihydrotestosterone derivative that was marketed from 1961 as an antineoplastic androgen for advanced inoperable breast cancer in women and has since been discontinued worldwide. Its clinical literature is genuine but dated, small and oncology-specific, and there are no modern controlled trials of any kind, so contemporary claims about it rest on pharmacological inference rather than direct evidence.
the explanation
Drostanolone was once a real cancer drug given to women with advanced breast cancer, and it worked by opposing oestrogen. It has been withdrawn everywhere, and the published studies are decades old, small, and about cancer treatment, so almost nothing is known about it in healthy people.
regulatory status
Withdrawn from all markets; formerly approved for breast cancer; DEA Schedule III controlled substance
Drostanolone propionate entered medical use in the United States in 1961 under the brand Drolban and was subsequently marketed in the UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and Japan as Masteril, Masteron, Permastril and others for advanced inoperable breast cancer in women. It appears no longer to be marketed anywhere. It is listed by name in the DEA schedules as 17-beta-hydroxy-2-alpha-methyl-5-alpha-androstan-3-one, Schedule III, and is Schedule IV in Canada. Prohibited in sport.
how it works · proposed mechanism
Drostanolone is a non-aromatisable, already-5-alpha-reduced androgen whose historic clinical use rested on antiestrogenic rather than anabolic action.
No aromatisation, no further reduction
Because the A-ring is already saturated, drostanolone cannot be converted to an oestrogen by aromatase and cannot be further amplified by 5-alpha-reductase. Its receptor activity is therefore what is administered, without the metabolic branching that shapes testosterone's profile.
2-alpha-methyl steric protection
The 2-alpha-methyl substitution hinders enzymatic inactivation at the 3-keto position, prolonging activity relative to unmodified dihydrotestosterone. This is a metabolic stability modification rather than a change in receptor selectivity.
Antiestrogenic oncology rationale
The historic indication in hormone-responsive advanced breast cancer was based on androgen-mediated opposition of oestrogen signalling in tumour tissue. This is a different therapeutic logic from lean-mass accretion, and no controlled trial has assessed the compound for the latter.
what’s reported
evidence shape
5 sourcesThe composition of the cited literature by study type. This describes the shape of the evidence, not its quality — and it does not by itself set the grade.
⚠ the catch
The entire human clinical record for drostanolone is oncology literature from the 1960s to 1980s in women with metastatic breast cancer, much of it published in languages other than English and predating modern trial reporting standards. There is no controlled human data on any other use, and modern claims about it are pharmacological extrapolation rather than evidence.
key published findings
- Human clinical (Marinov 1987, Khirurgiia (Sofiia), Bulgarian language): a clinical report of drostanolone propionate (Masteril) in disseminated breast cancer in women reporting immediate results; no abstract is indexed in MEDLINE and no outcome figures are retrievable from the indexed record.
- Regulatory (DEA schedules): drostanolone is named individually in the DEA controlled substances list as 17-beta-hydroxy-2-alpha-methyl-5-alpha-androstan-3-one under Schedule III, confirming its legal classification independent of its withdrawn medical status.
- Chemistry (PubChem, verified): the parent drostanolone is C20H32O2, molar mass 304.5, CAS 58-19-5; the propionate ester is C23H36O3, molar mass 360.5, CAS 521-12-0.
- Class-level human observational (Baggish 2017, Circulation): among 86 long-term AAS users versus 54 non-users, LVEF was 52 ± 11% versus 63 ± 8% and coronary plaque volume was higher in users; drostanolone is among the agents reported in such cohorts but no compound-specific attribution is possible.
- Class-level review (Pope 2014, Endocrine Reviews, Endocrine Society scientific statement): documents links between performance-enhancing drug use and increased mortality alongside cardiovascular, psychiatric, metabolic, endocrine, neurologic, infectious, hepatic, renal and musculoskeletal complications, and notes ethical constraints prevent randomised trials replicating typical user exposure.
limitations of the evidence
- No controlled human trial exists outside the historic oncology setting, and even that literature is small, old, and in several cases not abstracted in English-language databases.
- There is no modern pharmacokinetic or safety characterisation, so the commonly cited two-day propionate half-life rests on secondary rather than primary published sources.
- Because the product is withdrawn everywhere, all circulating material is unregulated, and product-composition studies in AAS cohorts show a high rate of mislabelling.
documented safety signals
- Virilisation in women is the dominant documented risk given the compound's non-aromatisable androgenic profile: voice deepening, hirsutism, acne and clitoral enlargement, with some changes irreversible if exposure continues.
- HPG-axis suppression with reduced LH and FSH, testicular atrophy, impaired spermatogenesis and infertility, a class effect documented in AAS cohorts (Rasmussen 2016 found 27.2% of former users below the lower testosterone reference limit versus 0% of controls, a mean 2.5 years after cessation).
- Adverse lipid shift with HDL suppression, which for non-aromatisable DHT-derived androgens is described in the class literature as pronounced; observational AAS data show HDL-C falling from 1.08 to 0.43 mmol/l (Hartgens 2004).
- Androgenic alopecia and acne, expected to be prominent because the molecule is already 5-alpha-reduced and cannot be attenuated by aromatisation.
- Cardiomyopathy and accelerated coronary atherosclerosis documented across long-term AAS users (Baggish 2017).
- Polycythaemia and raised haematocrit, a general class effect of androgens.
- Hepatic effects: while injectable non-17-alpha-alkylated esters carry lower hepatotoxic risk than oral alkylated steroids, the class labelling for injectable AAS still records peliosis hepatis and hepatic neoplasms with prolonged high-dose exposure.
- Blood pressure elevation and fluid retention.
- Injection-related infection risk: 42% of 366 men injecting image- and performance-enhancing drugs reported injection-site redness, swelling and tenderness and 6.8% an abscess or open wound (Hope 2015), with only 17% of those with local inflammation ever seeking treatment.
- As a withdrawn product with no legitimate supply chain, sterility, concentration and identity of any available material are unverifiable.
identity
| full name | Drostanolone (dromostanolone), propionate and enanthate esters |
| category | Anabolic & Androgenic |
| modality | steroid |
| formula | C20H32O2 |
| molar mass | 304.5 g/mol |
| cas | 58-19-5 |
| half-life | Approximately 2 days reported for the propionate ester by intramuscular injection; the enanthate ester is longer-acting. Published human pharmacokinetic data are sparse and dated. |
laboratory handling
| storage | Oil-based injectable ester; the historic products were stored at controlled room temperature protected from light. No current approved product exists and therefore no current authoritative storage labelling. |
| solubility | Practically insoluble in water. The propionate and enanthate esters are oil-soluble and were formulated as solutions in vegetable oil vehicles; the free steroid is soluble in ethanol and chloroform. |
| co-studied with | Reference note only, not guidance: because drostanolone is non-aromatisable, observational reports frequently describe it being used alongside aromatisable androgens, which means the compound is almost never studied in isolation and its independent contribution to any reported outcome is unquantified. |
Handling information describes laboratory practice for a research reagent. It is not a preparation guide for use in humans.
the receipts
5 citedUS DEA Diversion Control Division · 2025 · official
PubChem, US National Library of Medicine · 2026 · official
Khirurgiia (Sofiia) · 1987 · observational
Endocrine Reviews · 2014 · reviews
Circulation · 2017 · observational
others in Anabolic & Androgenic