A prospective study of multimodality therapy was conducted incorporating adjuvant resection in patients who presented with limited small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). This preliminary report addresses the resectability rate after induction chemotherapy. Twenty-five patients (1 with Stage II, 12 with Stage IIIa, and 12 with Stage IIIb disease) completed the induction regimen of 3 cycles of intravenous cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m2 on day 1, vincristine 2 mg on day 3, cisplatin 20 mg/m2 on days 1-3, and etoposide 100 mg/m2 on days 1-3, (every 3-4 weeks). Patients with complete response or partial response, 10 (40%) and 14 (56%) patients, respectively, were considered for surgical resection. Six were ineligible for surgery because of medical or surgical contraindications, and four refused surgery. Of the 14 patients taken to surgery, 10 had resectable disease (40% of the original group of 25). Three pneumonectomies, two bi-lobectomies, two lobectomies, and two wedge resections were performed. In the remaining patient multiple biopsies revealed no residual disease and resection was not performed. Surgery-related complications included one death, one bronchopleural fistula, and one episode of pneumonia. Induction chemotherapy was generally well tolerated. These preliminary data demonstrate that a significant percentage of patients with SCLC, Stages II-IIIb, can feasibly be resected after response to brief induction chemotherapy.