OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the efficacy of combination chemotherapy with methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (MVAC) following aggressive transurethral resection of bladder tumors in patients with stage II transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder without nuclear overexpression of mutant p53. II. Determine the proportion of patients treated with this regimen in whom bladder preservation rather than radical cystectomy is possible.