All procedures were performed in compliance with the University of Washington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and NIH guidelines. Four- to 6-week-old male SCID mice (Fox Chase SCID mice, Charles River, Wilmington, MA) were used. The animals were orchiectomized at 8 weeks of age, and all animals were implanted with tumors at least 2 weeks after surgery. Tumor bits (20-30 mm
3) of human castration resistant prostate tumor xenograft LuCaP 35V were implanted subcutaneously. LuCaP 35 originated from a lymph node prostate cancer metastasis from a patient with androgen resistant prostate cancer. Both the castration sensitive (CS) LuCaP 35 and isogenic, castration resistant LuCaP 35V express PSA and a wild-type androgen receptor [
23]. Tumor growth was monitored by tumor measurements twice a week using calipers, and tumor volume was calculated as 0.5236 × LxHxW. When tumors reached 150 to 400 mm
3, the animals were randomized into three groups. Group 1 (n = 10), the control group, were implanted with subcutaneous placebo pellets (Innovative Research of America, Sarasota, FL). Group 2 (n = 10): animals were supplemented with 17β-estradiol by subcutaneous implantation of slow-release Trocar pellets (90-day release, 0.36 mg; Innovative Research of America). Group 3 (n = 10): animals were implanted with 17β-estradiol pellets and the estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182,780 was injected once a week (5 mg, subcutaneous injection) [
24]. Control tissue for androgens was assayed from non-xenograft tissue from the same animals as well as from isogenic castration sensitive LuCaP 35 growing in eugonadal male mice. Effects of the treatments were monitored by biweekly measurements of tumor volume. Animals were sacrificed when tumors exceeded 1000 mm
3 or when the animals became compromised. Tumors were snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C. Efficacy of the different treatment methods was assessed as average tumor volumes per group after 3 weeks of treatment. Growth delay was measured as the time from the start of treatment to the time for tumors to reach a volume of 1000 mm
3 [
25]. All procedures were performed in compliance with the University of Washington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee