Seventy-two patients with advanced ovarian cancer received CAP chemotherapy followed by laparotomy and ‘second-effort’ surgery. The overall response to CAP therapy was 80%. A complete pathological response (CPR) was obtained in 16 patients and partial microscopic (PMiR) and macroscopic responses in 7 and 33 cases, respectively. The actuarial survival for the entire group was 36% at 50 months with a median survival of 34 months. No significant differences in survival between the CPR and PMiR groups were found. Radical second-effort surgery showed a somewhat beneficial effect. The tumor size before chemotherapy ( < 5 cm) and FIGO stage III had a significantly favorable effect on response rate and survival.