Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are a new group of chemically synthesised compounds that bind to the androgen receptor and have tissue-specific actions that include both agonistic and antagonistic effects. They were developed to minimise the off-target effects of anabolic androgenic steroids and have attracted a lot of attention recently, mainly because of their positive anabolic effects on muscle and bone tissue. Although not approved for therapeutic use, many of these compounds are being tested in clinical trials for the treatment of breast and prostate cancer, sarcopenia, cancer- or chronic disease-related cachexia and other conditions. In addition to their promising therapeutic potential selective androgen receptor modulators also have a high potential for abuse by athletes due to their beneficial anabolic effects on muscles and physical strength.
In this Master's thesis, we analysed the results of the completed clinical trials, whose aim was to determine whether tested SARMs are safe and effective in the treatment of various conditions such as breast and prostate cancer, cancer- or chronic disease-related cachexia, erectile dysfunction, sarcopenia and stress urinary incontinence, and on this basis, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of SARMs. We also assessed the abuse potential of these substances by professional and recreational athletes based on the review of scientific articles. We analysed 9 phase 2 and 3 clinical trials that have been completed and whose results are available, and we also reviewed scientific articles containing the selected keywords and published in the last 5 years. We found that SARMs show some efficacy in the treatment of cachexia associated with cancer or chronic inflammatory diseases and are insufficiently effective in the management of prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction and stress urinary incontinence symptoms and treatment of sarcopenia. We also determined that enobosarm has the highest therapeutic potential among all SARMs tested, as it progressed to phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Selective androgen receptor modulators have a greater potential for abuse, primarily because they can be easily purchased on the internet and because of the impact of social media. In addition, the consequences of abuse can be dangerous, as they can cause liver damage after only a few weeks of use.
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