Combined treatment of male Syrian golden hamsters with the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) and 7,8-benzoflavone (7,8-BF) gives rise to a high incidence of hepatocellular carcinomas, whereas no such tumors are formed with DES alone nor with 7,8-BF alone. To determine whether alterations in DES metabolism may account for the observed hepatocarcinogenicity, we have studied the effect of pretreatment with 7,8-BF alone, DES alone and 7,8-BF plus DES on the levels of hepatic P-450 and cytochrome b5, on the activities of various P-450 isoenzymes and on microsomal DES metabolism. Hepatic P-450 content was significantly increased after pretreatment with 7,8-BF and decreased after DES, while combined pretreatment led to levels similar to those in untreated control animals. Hepatic cytochrome b5 was also elevated in 7,8-BF-treated hamsters; DES pretreatment had no effect, and combined pretreatment led to a slight increase. Four different substrates were used to probe P-450 isoenzyme activity. Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH), 7-ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase (ECOD), 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and 7-pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase (PROD) were all elevated after 7,8-BF-pretreatment, while DES led to a decrease in these activities with the exception of AHH, where a transient increase which was observed after 8 and 20 weeks of pretreatment was back to control levels after 32 weeks. Combined pretreatment with 7,8-BF and DES led to an intermediate response (slight increase) with AHH, EROD and PROD, but not with ECOD, where a full induction comparable with that observed after 7,8-BF alone was elicited. In spite of the modulation of enzyme levels and activities observed after the various pretreatments, the metabolism of DES in microsomes from pretreated animals was virtually identical with that from controls. Therefore it is concluded that modulation of hepatic DES metabolism is not the reason for the observed hepatotumorigenicity; instead, it is speculated that 7,8-BF is the carcinogenic agent in this tumor model, and DES may act as a promotor.