Between January 1986 and December 1992, sixty-nine patients with squamous esophageal cancer were randomized to one or the other of two treatment groups. Group 1 (35 patients) were scheduled to receive chemotherapy (cisplatinum and 5-fluorouracil) and radiation, followed by resection, while group 2 (34 patients) received resection alone. Of the 35 patients entering combined treatment, 26 completed the protocol and 9 received only chemoradiation. A complete response to preoperative therapy was shown by 7 patients, and a partial response by the other 7 patients. Survival rates at one year and five years were slightly better among patients receiving combined treatment than among those undergoing surgery alone, but overall survival did not differ statistically between the two groups. Nor were operative mortality and complications statistical different between the two groups.