A 1 mg. dose of diethylstilbestrol remains a medial alternative to bilateral orchiectomy in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Doses of 3 mg. diethylstilbestrol or more have a prohibitively high risk of cardiovascular death. Further studies comparing the efficacy, complications and cost of regimens containing oral estrogens or parenteral estrogens with agents that increase efficacy (for example antiandrogens) and decrease toxicity (for example anticoagulants) to results of other regimens, such as combined androgen blockade, should be done to determine if an estrogen-containing regimen could lower the cost of treating advanced prostate cancer.