BACKGROUND: Radium-223 has been shown to improve overall survival in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with symptomatic bone metastases. The bone scan response to radium-223 has only been described in one single center trial of 14 patients, none of whom achieved the outstanding bone scan response presented in the current case. CASE PRESENTATION: In this case report, we describe a 75 year-old white man with extensively pre-treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and symptomatic bone metastases who experienced a flare in pain and prostate-specific antigen, followed by dramatic clinical (pain), biochemical (prostate-specific antigen), and imaging (bone scan) response. CONCLUSION: The flare phenomena and bone scan response we observed have not previously been described with radium-223. This case suggests that the degree and duration of bone scan response may be predictive of overall survival benefit.