The association of oral androgenic-anabolic steroids and life-threatening disease.

The use of androgenic anabolic steroids in the therapeutic dose range by strength athletes is well documented. The benign side effects of these drugs are well known but more disturbing are the increasingly frequent reports of potentially fatal diseases in association with the therapeutic use of these agents. A review is made of the clinical evidence indicating a direct association between androgenic steroids and peliosis hepatis, heptocellular carcinoma and acute myelogenous leukemia, all potentially fatal disorders.