Enel Health®Atlas
Sign in
Enel Health®Atlas
Browse libraries

Not medical advice. The Atlas is not a substitute for a clinician who can examine you.

Drostanolone

Masteron (drostanolone propionate/enanthate); 2a-methyl-DHT

Evidence grade 2 of 5, Thin. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.

The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.

FDA
Historical breast-cancer adjuvant; no current US human approval (Schedule III)
WADA
Prohibited at all times (S1 Anabolic Agents).

Reference only. Not medical advice.

This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about drostanolone in general. It cannot tell you what is happening in your body, and the difference matters most for exactly the symptoms that bring people to this page.

Drostanolone is a dihydrotestosterone (DHT) derivative (2-alpha-methyl-DHT). Its propionate ester (Masteron) was historically used as an adjuvant in the treatment of advanced/inoperable breast cancer in women, exploiting androgens' anti-estrogenic effect on hormone-sensitive tumors, before modern antiestrogens (tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors) made it obsolete. As a DHT-derivative it does not aromatize and binds SHBG; in illicit use it is taken largely for cosmetic 'hardening' effects. It carries the androgenic risks of a potent DHT compound (hair loss, prostate effects) plus the cardiovascular/lipid risks of the class.

Once an anti-estrogen breast-cancer drug; now a cosmetic-physique compound.

What people take it for

These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.

  • Historical: adjuvant therapy in advanced/metastatic breast cancer
  • Illicit cosmetic 'hardening'/contest-prep physique use
Advanced breast cancer (historical)
Used as an androgenic adjuvant for hormone-responsive advanced breast cancer before tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors superseded it.

How it is supposed to work

Drostanolone binds the androgen receptor and, like other androgens, exerts an anti-estrogenic effect in breast tissue, the basis of its historical oncologic use. It does not aromatize, so it adds no estrogen, and it binds sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Its physique reputation for a 'hard, dry' look reflects the absence of estrogenic water retention rather than any unique anabolic property.

5-alpha-DHT skeleton with a 2-alpha-methyl group that improves anabolic activity and metabolic stability; non-aromatizable.

Obsolete oncology, repurposed cosmetics

Drostanolone's anti-estrogenic action was clinically useful only before selective antiestrogens existed; it was never a 'safe' drug, merely an available one. Its modern use is cosmetic, and the androgenic burden of a potent DHT-derivative (scalp hair loss, prostate stimulation, virilization in women) is real.

Safety in detail

This intervention involves significant physiological effects and requires evaluation and monitoring by a qualified physician. Self-administration without medical oversight carries documented health risks.

  • Androgenic effects: male-pattern hair loss, acne, prostate stimulation.
  • Virilization in women (voice deepening, hirsutism, clitoral enlargement), historically dose-limiting in oncology.
  • Adverse lipid changes; cardiovascular risk of the class.
  • HPTA suppression.
  • No modern human safety oversight; counterfeit risk.

Replacement is not the same as a cycle

Historical oncologic dosing was physician-supervised for a life-threatening illness. Cosmetic physique use is supraphysiological and unsanctioned; this entry provides no dosing or cycle guidance.

What it does to fertility

Suppresses LH/FSH and spermatogenesis as a non-aromatizing androgen; subfertility during use, with variable recovery after discontinuation.

What has to be monitored

The bloodwork this needs, and the reason it belongs with a clinician rather than a website.

  • Lipid panel
  • PSA/prostate assessment
  • Hematocrit
  • LH/FSH, testosterone
  • Blood pressure

What people get wrong

  • Often said'Masteron is a safe, side-effect-free cosmetic steroid'

    ActuallyIt is a potent DHT-derivative: scalp hair loss, acne, prostate effects and (in women) virilization are expected, alongside the lipid/cardiovascular risks of the class.

Who profits, and who pushes back

Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.

How we got here

Introduced in the 1960s, drostanolone propionate (Masteron, Drolban) was used as an adjuvant in advanced breast cancer, reflecting an era when androgens were a recognized hormonal therapy. The advent of tamoxifen and later aromatase inhibitors rendered it obsolete in oncology, after which it persisted only in illicit physique use.

  1. 1960sDrostanolone propionate introduced; used in advanced breast cancer
  2. 1970s-80sSuperseded in oncology by tamoxifen/aromatase inhibitors
  3. PresentIllicit cosmetic-physique use only; no current human approval

At a glance

Class
DHT-derivative (2a-methyl-DHT)
Esters
Propionate (short), enanthate (long)
Historical use
Adjuvant in advanced breast cancer
Aromatization
None (non-aromatizing)

What this entry does not yet cover

What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Drostanolone. A short entry is not a safe entry.

  • Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
  • Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
  • Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
  • What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
  • How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
  • Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.
  • What can go wrong. We have not written the risk line for this one. Read the safety section below rather than treating its absence as reassurance.
  • Where we land. We have not taken a position on this yet.

Sources

The studies below are named and described, but not linked. You cannot open them from here and check our reading against them, which means this page is our summary of the literature rather than a document you can verify. Weigh it accordingly until the links exist.

The studies that matter

  • Historical oncology trials of drostanolone propionate in advanced breast cancer1960s-70s

    Documented modest tumor response, later eclipsed by selective antiestrogens.

  • Pope et al., Endocrine Society Scientific Statement2014

    Class-level AAS harm context.