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.

RAD-140 (Testolone)

Nonsteroidal SARM (Radius Health / Ellipses)

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

The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.

FDA
Not FDA approved; investigational (breast cancer)
WADA
Prohibited at all times (S1.2 Other Anabolic Agents)

Reference only. Not medical advice.

What can go wrong

Documented severe cholestatic drug-induced liver injury (jaundice, pruritus, very high bilirubin) in multiple case reports; strong suppression of testosterone, LH and FSH; reductions in HDL. As with all consumer SARMs, product contents are frequently mislabeled. Banned in all WADA sport.

This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about rad-140 (testolone) 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.

RAD-140 (testolone) is a potent nonsteroidal SARM discovered by Radius Health and studied (as RAD140) in AR-positive breast cancer. In the gray market it is marketed as the 'most anabolic' SARM. There are multiple published case reports of severe cholestatic drug-induced liver injury in young men who took RAD-140 for bodybuilding, including cases with peak bilirubin in the tens of mg/dL.

Marketed as the strongest SARM, and linked to multiple published cases of severe liver injury.

What people take it for

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

  • Marketed (illegally) for maximal lean-mass and strength gain
  • Investigated for AR-positive breast cancer

How it is supposed to work

RAD-140 is a high-affinity nonsteroidal AR agonist with strong anabolic activity in muscle and bone and, preclinically, reduced prostate stimulation. As an AR agonist it suppresses endogenous LH, FSH and testosterone. It has also been studied for AR modulation in breast tissue.

Potency cuts both ways

The same high potency that makes RAD-140 attractive to bodybuilders drives strong HPTA suppression and appears to carry real hepatotoxic risk. Multiple independent case reports (Ochsner Journal 2022; Australian Prescriber; Cureus 2024) describe severe cholestatic liver injury, jaundice, pruritus, markedly elevated bilirubin, in previously healthy young men after weeks of RAD-140 use, resolving after discontinuation.

Safety in detail

RAD-140 has been linked to multiple published cases of severe, hospitalization-level liver injury in young, otherwise-healthy users. It is an unapproved drug, not a supplement, and self-administration carries documented hepatic and endocrine risks.

Replacement is not the same as a cycle

There is no established safe human dose; consumer doses (often 10-30 mg/day) are entirely unvalidated. The hepatotoxicity cases occurred at typical bodybuilding doses over just weeks.

What it does to fertility

Suppresses LH/FSH and endogenous testosterone; can impair spermatogenesis. Recovery data at consumer doses are lacking.

What has to be monitored

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

  • Liver function tests (AST/ALT/bilirubin), key given DILI reports
  • Total/free testosterone, LH, FSH
  • Lipid panel (HDL)
  • Hematocrit

What people get wrong

  • Often saidSARMs are liver-safe, unlike oral steroids

    ActuallyRAD-140 has multiple published reports of severe cholestatic liver injury in young users at ordinary bodybuilding doses.

  • Often saidStrongest SARM means best choice

    ActuallyHigher potency here also means stronger suppression and, per case reports, real hepatotoxic risk.

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

RAD-140 was developed by Radius Health as testolone and advanced (as RAD140) into oncology, notably AR-positive breast cancer, before rights and development shifted over time. Independent of any legitimate program, it became one of the most aggressively marketed gray-market SARMs, and clinicians began publishing hepatotoxicity case reports as bodybuilding use spread.

  1. ~2010Radius Health discovers RAD-140
  2. 2016-2017Preclinical breast-cancer data published
  3. 2022-2024Multiple case reports of severe RAD-140 liver injury published

At a glance

Discoverer
Radius Health
Studied for
AR-positive metastatic breast cancer
Reputation
Marketed as strongest SARM
FDA approvals
None

What this entry does not yet cover

What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about RAD-140 (Testolone). 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.

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

  • Jayaraman et al. / preclinical AR-positive breast cancer (Radius)2016-2017

    RAD140 showed AR-mediated anti-tumor activity in models; basis for oncology development

  • RAD-140 drug-induced liver injury (Ochsner Journal)2022

    24-year-old with cholestatic liver injury, peak bilirubin ~38.5 mg/dL, after ~5 weeks of RAD-140

  • Severe liver injury following RAD-140 (Australian Prescriber)2024

    43-year-old with acute liver injury, bilirubin ~708 micromol/L, after bodybuilding use