In the first experiment, histological changes of urinary bladder after long-term transvesical catheterization were evaluated in normal rats. No malignant changes of the bladder epithelium were detected in the two and four-week catheterization groups. However incidences of papilloma and papillary carcinoma developed in three of the five rats (60%) in the eight-week group. In a second experiment the therapeutic effect of continuous or intermittent administration of MMC on bladder carcinogenesis in rats treated with N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (BBN) was examined. MMC at a total dose of four mg. was administered for two weeks in both therapeutic groups. Continuous infusion was performed transvesically using an osmotic pump and a silicone catheter, on the basis that preliminary examination revealed the urinary delivery rate of MMC was constant for two weeks. In the intermittent group, MMC solution was instilled transurethrally with a venural catheter twice a week. The continuous infusion of low concentrated MMC reduced significantly (p less than 0.02) the incidence of tumor development in spite of extended catheterization (for eight weeks) into the bladder. However, the intermittent instillation of high concentrated MMC hardly inhibited the development of bladder tumors. We should consider the optimal concentration and time of a drug in intravesical chemotherapy based on the above findings.