Thirty-six evaluable patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were randomized to treatments involving vindesine (3 mg/m2 X 3) plus cisplatin (80-120 mg/m2) versus mitomycin C (8 mg/m2) plus vindesine (2 mg/m2 X 3) plus cisplatin (80-120 mg/m2). The response rate for the vindesine and cisplatin combination was 29%, versus 47% for the mitomycin C, vindesine and cisplatin combination. There was no evidence of improved duration of response in patients given mitomycin C, vindesine and cisplatin. The median survival for patients given mitomycin C, vindesine and cisplatin was 11.4 months, compared with 10.3 months for those given vindesine and cisplatin. Toxicity was almost comparable for the two treatments. The utility of addition of mitomycin C to vindesine and cisplatin should be evaluated in further investigations.