To test this hypothesis—and to interrogate mechanisms of action potentially explaining the efficacy of early antagonism of the AR signaling axis in HCC—we treated (i.e. before carcinogenic challenge) adult rats with enzalutamide (ENZ), a potent AR antagonist, in a diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced model of hepatocellular carcinogenesis. Here, AR is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.