The EORTC Gastrointestinal Group has conducted a phase II trial in 47 patients with locally advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas with epirubicin 90 mg/m2 intravenously on day 1 in combination with 5-fluorouracil 500 mg/m2 in a 2 hr infusion day 1-4, every 4 weeks. Of 43 evaluable patients there were six early deaths due to tumour progression and one due to a cerebrovascular accident. There were six partial responses for a response rate of 14% including early deaths. The median survival for all patients was 4 months. It is concluded that the addition of 5-fluorouracil to epirubicin does not appear to enhance the therapeutic results of epirubicin alone.