Prostate tissues obtained from rats given a food-derived carcinogen, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), at a dose of 400 ppm in the diet for 52 weeks were histopathologically evaluated and found to contain prostate carcinomas limited to the ventral lobe in 18 of 27 cases. Atypical hyperplasias were also detected in the ventral and anterior prostate as well as the seminal vesicles. 32P-Postlabeling analysis of DNA demonstrated that PhIP-DNA adducts are produced in all lobes of the prostate of rats receiving PhIP. The findings indicate that PhIP is carcinogenic to rat prostate in addition to the previously demonstrated targeting of the colon and mammary glands, providing evidence of a possible role of PhIP in human prostate carcinogenesis and highlighting the potential importance of PhIP for man.