Fluorouracil With or Without Cisplatin in Treating Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Cancer of the Pancreas

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug and giving drugs in different ways may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether fluorouracil plus cisplatin are more effective than fluorouracil alone in treating patients with metastatic cancer of the pancreas. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of fluorouracil with or without cisplatin in treating patients who have advanced or metastatic cancer of the pancreas.