Cardarine (GW501516): Trials, Cancer Findings & Status
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Cardarine (GW501516): trials, cancer findings and status

Doses studied · Approval status · Half-life notes

What is cardarine?

Cardarine (GW501516) is a small molecule that switches on PPAR-delta, a receptor that controls how muscles burn fat. GlaxoSmithKline tested it in people for its effects on blood fats, then stopped development. It is not a peptide and is not approved for human use anywhere we could find.

Also known as: GW501516, GW1516, GW-501516.

Doses studied

There is no approved product. GSK's trials gave 2.5 or 10 mg once a day for 2 weeks to healthy volunteers (Sprecher 2007), 10 mg a day for 2 weeks to moderately overweight men (Risérus 2008), and 2.5, 5 or 10 mg a day for 12 weeks to 268 people with low HDL cholesterol (Olson 2012). Development was stopped after these trials. These are trial protocols, not personalized advice; confirm any dosing with your prescriber.

Approval status and how it is used

Cardarine is not approved. In 2013 WADA took the rare step of warning athletes about it, saying GW501516 was withdrawn from research and terminated by its developer when serious toxicities were found in preclinical studies, and that clinical approval has not and will not be given. The studies WADA pointed to are two 2009 GSK abstracts: in 2-year studies, rats and mice given GW501516 every day developed tumors in several organs, including the liver, stomach, bladder, thyroid, uterus and skin, at every dose tested (Geiger 2009; Newsholme 2009).

WADA bans PPAR-delta agonists, naming GW1516 (GW501516), banned in and out of competition under "metabolic modulators" (S4.4.1). When researchers tested 44 products sold online as SARMs (Van Wagoner 2017), some contained GW501516 instead of, or as well as, what the label said.

In the human trials, cardarine raised HDL cholesterol and lowered triglycerides and LDL: in the 12-week trial, HDL rose by up to 16.9% and triglycerides fell by 16.9% (Olson 2012). These trials lasted at most 12 weeks, too short to show whether the cancers seen in rodents happen in people.

Cardarine half-life and time to peak

  • Half-lifeNot listed
  • Time to peak (Tmax)Not listed

The GSK trial summaries we read give no half-life or time to peak, so we do not list one.

How to track cardarine in Dose Track

  1. Add cardarine as a custom compound. Start typing its name and Dose Track fills in the details from its research library for you to check, and it sits next to everything else you take.
  2. Log each dose when you take it so your history shows exactly what you took and when.
  3. Set reminders on your own schedule, whether that is daily, weekly or every few days.
  4. Your log is stored on your phone and no account is needed. Data only leaves it for features you choose, like AI answers and lab reading.

How Dose Track handles peptides · Reconstitution calculator · Half-life calculator

GW0742GW610742, GW-0742 SR9009 (Stenabolic)Stenabolic, SR-9009 SLU-PP-332 MOTS-c 5-Amino-1MQ5-amino-1-methylquinolinium, NNMT inhibitor

Frequently asked questions

What is the half-life of cardarine?+
The GSK trial summaries we read give no half-life or time to peak, so we do not list one.
Why was cardarine (GW501516) discontinued?+
WADA said in 2013 that the developer withdrew and terminated it when serious toxicities were found in preclinical studies. The studies it cited, two GSK abstracts from 2009, found tumors in several organs of rats and mice given GW501516 daily for 2 years, at every dose tested.
Is cardarine a SARM?+
No. It is a PPAR-delta agonist, a different drug class, though it is often sold next to SARMs. WADA lists it under metabolic modulators, not anabolic agents.
Can I track cardarine in Dose Track?+
Yes. Cardarine is in Dose Track's research library, so when you add it as a custom compound its details are filled in for you to check. You can then log each dose next to your other compounds, set reminders on your own schedule, and see your history next to your lab results. Your log is stored on your phone and no account is needed. Data only leaves it for features you choose, like AI answers and lab reading.

Sources

  1. Sprecher DL, et al. Triglyceride:high-density lipoprotein cholesterol effects in healthy subjects administered a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor delta agonist. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2007;27(2):359-365.
  2. Risérus U, et al. Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)delta promotes reversal of multiple metabolic abnormalities, reduces oxidative stress, and increases fatty acid oxidation in moderately obese men. Diabetes. 2008;57(2):332-339.
  3. Olson EJ, et al. Lipid effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-δ agonist GW501516 in subjects with low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol: characteristics of metabolic syndrome. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012;32(9):2289-2294.
  4. World Anti-Doping Agency. WADA issues alert on GW501516 (March 21, 2013).
  5. Geiger LE, et al. Rat carcinogenicity study with GW501516, a PPAR delta agonist (abstract 895); Newsholme SJ, et al. Mouse carcinogenicity study with GW501516, a PPAR delta agonist (abstract 896). The Toxicologist (Society of Toxicology annual meeting). 2009;108(1):185.
  6. World Anti-Doping Agency. 2026 Prohibited List (S1.2 other anabolic agents; S2.2.1; S4.4.1 metabolic modulators; S6 stimulants).
  7. Van Wagoner RM, et al. Chemical composition and labeling of substances marketed as selective androgen receptor modulators and sold via the internet. JAMA. 2017;318(20):2004-2010.

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