The rapid reduction of obstruction of the urethra by carcinomatous tissue in the prostate gland, when patients are treated by the estrogen diethylstilbestrol,1as reported by Kahle and Maltry,2Herbst,3Kahle, Ogden and Getzoff,4Heckel and Kretschmer,5Wishard6and Chute and Willetts,7has led to an investigation of a similar "unblocking" phenomenon in the release of cerebrospinal fluid when obstructed by metastases secondary to prostatic carcinoma. Metastatic lesions in the lumbosacral spine, causing pain in the legs from direct pressure on nerve roots or invasion of the spinal canal causing blockage of the cerebrospinal fluid and traction on the roots, are commonly discovered on roentgen examination and lumbar puncture in patients with prostatic cancer. The relief of these symptoms may be of more urgent concern than the urinary dysfunction, and thus the patient's chief complaint is "neuritis" or "rheumatism" rather than urinary retention.