A current hypothesis suggests that androgen administration prior to chemotherapy (androgen priming) may potentiate tumor cytotoxicity in prostate cancer. The Dunning R3327G rat prostatic tumor model was used to test this concept experimentally. Control groups without priming included (1) intact untreated, (2) castrate alone and (3) castrate+ chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, 30 mg/kg/day for 2 days with repeat cycle in 25 days- CTX). Two experimental groups received androgens, one before and one after chemotherapy. Treatment effect was monitored by quantitating tumor volume and animal survival. Control groups receiving castration and chemotherapy had a retardation of tumor growth and a prolongation of survival when compared to untreated animals. Androgen priming before but not after chemotherapy enhanced the degree of tumor suppression. With the androgen-priming protocol, all androgen-primed tumors had regressed, 3/6 tumors had disappeared and 3 were only palpable. At the same time point, tumors in all the other groups were actively growing and had volumes greater than the initial values (P less than 0.01). Median survival was significantly prolonged in primed animals 191 vs 40 days for untreated animals and 150 days for the nonprimed castration + chemotherapy animals (P less than 0.02). These findings have been repeated with several replicate experiments. These observations confirm the hypothesis that androgen priming can potentiate chemotherapy in an experimental system.