In October 1984, a prospective pilot study aiming to evaluate the feasibility and to preliminarily test the efficacy of the chemotherapy--surgery sequence in locally advanced bladder carcinoma was started at our institutions. Chemotherapy consisted of adriamycin 50 mg mq-2 and cisplatin 50 mg mq-2 on day 1 and fluorouracil 500 mg mq-2 and teniposide 100 mg mq-2 on days 1 and 8; chemotherapy was repeated every 3 weeks for three cycles and followed by surgery (radical cystectomy; TUR if radical surgery medically contraindicated). The characteristics of the 28 patients so far treated include: T3b in 26 patients, local relapse after surgery in two, nodal metastases in seven. Twenty-five patients were male and three female, median age was 61 yr (range 42-75). Clinical response following chemotherapy was: complete remission (CR) in five patients, partial remission (PR) in 15, stable disease (SD) in three, progression (PRO) in two. Three patients are not evaluable. Treatment was moderately well tolerated. Thirteen patients underwent radical surgery, three exploratory surgery, three TUR; refusal in three patients, early death in two, too early in one. No evidence of disease was found in the surgical specimen of five patients (three CR, two PR), microscopic residual disease in four PR patients, gross residual disease in 11 patients (one CR, six PR, two SD, two PRO). Actuarial median survival (all 28 patients) is 45% at 36 months. These preliminary results suggest that the combination of chemotherapy and surgery is feasible and may be effective in these poor prognosis patients.