The association between prostate cancer risk and dietary fat consumption is well documented and explained partly by accelerated lipid peroxidation. We explored the possible effects of high dietary cholesterol on carcinogenesis and oxidative stress in the prostate of ACI/Seg rats. The rats develop prostate cancer spontaneously late in the life, providing an appropriate model to explore prolonged dietary conditions. Two groups of 20-week-old male rats, 28 each, were fed either a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with 1% cholesterol (high cholesterol diet), and killed at 100 weeks of age. Rats on the high cholesterol diet developed adenocarcinoma in the ventral prostate more frequently (26 versus 4%, P = 0.023). In the repeat study, 26 rats each were treated similarly and killed at 80 weeks for histology and oxidative stress assay. Oxidative stress was assessed by measuring the plasma and intra-prostatic levels of vitamin E, vitamin C, uric acid and the oxidized and reduced forms of coenzyme Q(9). The relative amount of oxidized form of coenzyme Q(9) is a sensitive marker of oxidative stress. Rats on the high cholesterol diet demonstrated a higher incidence of atypical prostatic hyperplasia (24 versus 4%, P = 0.049). Also, the prostate showed a 2-fold increase (203% of the control) in the relative amounts of the oxidized form of coenzyme Q(9) and reciprocal reduction of vitamin C (9.5% of the control) and uric acid (46% of the control) levels (P < 0.01), with a minimal change in vitamin E. The plasma levels of these compounds were not affected by dietary conditions. These results indicated that long-term feeding of a 1% cholesterol diet promoted carcinogenesis and tissue oxidative stress in rat prostate. The role of dietary fat and oxidative stress in prostate carcinogenesis needs further investigation.