The present study aimed to assess the antitumor response and safety of a tri-weekly neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen consisting of cisplatin and irinotecan for the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer with a bulky mass. Between June 2002 and March 2008, 20 patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix at clinical stage Ib2-IIIb were studied. Two 21-day cycles consisting of intravenous administration of cisplatin at 70 mg/m(2) (Day 1) and irinotecan at 70 mg/m(2) (Days 1 and 8) were performed. Antitumor responses, adverse events and the surgery completion rate were investigated. The response rate of the 15 stage I-II patients was 86.7%, while that of the 5 stage III patients was 20%. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was noted in 12 patients, and 4 patients had grade 3 or 4 anemia. Queasiness and vomiting, as grade 3 or 4 non-hematotoxic events, occurred in 1 patient, but none of the patients had diarrhea. The surgery completion rate was 75%. The present data indicate that the tri-weekly cisplatin and irinotecan combination neoadjuvant chemotherapy involves only controllable toxicity and yields a high response rate, suggesting that this combination is a useful therapy regimen.