OUTLINE: This a two arm, randomized study. Patients are stratified by: cell type of cancer (squamous cell vs adenocarcinoma); lymph nodes (positive vs negative); and stage (invasive vs noninvasive). Patients in arm I undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy within 24 hours of each other. Chemotherapy consists of cisplatin (CDDP) by bolus IV infusion over 30 minutes on day 1 and again on day 29. Fluorouracil (5-FU) is administered by continuous IV infusion for 4 days (on days 1-4 and 29-32) after completion of cisplatin. Radiotherapy is administered on days 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, and 29-33, with a boost on days 36-38. If there is no disease progression or unresectable disease, surgery is performed within 3-8 weeks following completion of therapy. Patients in arm II undergo surgery alone no later than 6 weeks postrandomization. Patients are followed at least every 3 months for two years, then every 6 months for the next two years, and annually thereafter.