In a prospective randomized study, 24 patients with inoperable oesophageal carcinoma were treated. Of the tumours 19 were squamous cell carcinomas, 3 anaplastic cell carcinomas and 2 adenocarcinomas. All the patients were males and the mean age was 57 years (range 40-69 years). The performance status of all candidates was H1 (as classified by the American Joint Committee), or 70 - 80% on the Karnofsky scale. All 24 patients had Celestin tubes inserted and 12 were treated with pulse doses of doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide once every 3 weeks. The dosage used for doxorubicin was 40 mg/m2 and that for cyclophosphamide 700 mg/m2. No serious drug-induced side-effects occurred and tumour regression was observed. Although an increase in median survival is shown in the chemotherapy group, no conclusions on survival can be drawn owing to the small number of patients in this pilot study. The 3-weekly pulse chemotherapy programme was well tolerated. It can be conducted on an outpatient basis with minimum disruption of the patient's life.