A similar question was answered on c.l.p.misc in May. The solution is not mine, but I present it here.

Wanted: function composition using tr, s, etc. operators:

    $var2 = s/123/456/g (tr/a-z/A-Z/ ($var));
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The answer:

    sub apply (&$) {
        local $_ = $_[1];
        $_[0]->();
        $_;
    }
    
    $var2 = apply {s/123/456/g; tr/a-z/A-Z/} $var;
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or in this case:    $string = apply {s/foo/blah/} $string;

HTH,
Charles K. Clarkson