Twenty-three previously untreated ovarian cancer patients were treated, from January 1986 to March 1987, with combination chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, cyclophosphamide and cytarabine (DAC regimen). All patients had advanced disease, which included 18 stage III and 5 stage IV patients. Sixteen patients had serous, 6 undifferentiated and 1 mixed histotype. Surgery consisting of total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, partial omentectomy and appendicectomy was performed in only 11/23 patients. Seventeen patients had bulky disease when the treatment was started. Four courses of chemotherapy were initially administered to all patients; second look laparotomy was performed in patients with no clinically measurable disease or with presumable entirely resectable tumor. Vomiting was the major side effect of chemotherapy: myelotoxicity was mild and in only one patient permanent renal damage occurred. A total of 14 objective clinical responses (73.7%) were observed, of which 9 were complete (47.4%). Six clinical complete remissions (37.5%) occurred in the group of patients with bulky disease. At second-look laparotomy six patients were found disease free (26%), 4 of whom originally had bulky disease (25%). Short-term DAC regimen seems to be a very effective treatment, with acceptable toxicity, in patients with ovarian cancer.