Radical debulking surgery allows for optimal cytoreduction in less than 50% of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. In spite of highly efficient chemotherapeutic regimens, the prognosis of patients with residual tumor masses larger than 1 cm in diameter following staging laparotomy is very poor. This observation led to the initiation of numerous trials evaluating the feasibility and efficiency of the use of primary chemotherapy followed by interval laparotomy in women with advanced ovarian cancer. The available data is presented and discussed in this review.