Of 55 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, 30 with localized disease were treated with a combined modality for curative intent. Treatment consisted of mitomycin C (10 mg/m2 day 1) and continuous infusion 5-FU (1000 mg/m2 day, days 1-4, 29-32) (CT), radiation (XRT) (3000 rad, days 1-21) with nutritional support, and surgery (days 49-64). Surgery consisted of celiotomy, esophagectomy and esophagogastrostomy +/- postoperative ventilatory support. Postoperative CT plus an additional 2000 rad XRT was restricted to patients with histologic positive tumor. Since five resected patients with subclinical metastatic tumor had an inferior survival equal to 25 patients treated essentially for palliation, pretreatment celiotomy seems warranted to identify patients with an inferior prognosis. Of 18 resected patients without disseminated tumor evaluable for this combined modality: six were tumor free, three had intramural and nine transmural tumor; the median survival is 76 weeks and five of six living patients are disease free at 95-190 weeks; and local recurrence occurred in two and in two of seven unresected patients. Since toxicity was minimal except for postoperative pneumonitis (13%) and local recurrence low (13%), two courses of chemotherapy and 5000 rad XRT perhaps obviates the need for resection.