Introduction: Treatment outcome in patients with ovarian cancer are still unsatisfactory, mainly due to considerably advanced stage of disease at diagnosis. Patients not eligible for primary cytoreductive surgery increasingly frequently undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Aim of paper: The aim of this paper was to assess treatment outcome in patients with FIGO stage III ovarian cancer undergoing standard treatment (primary cytoreductive surgery with subsequent paclitaxel- and platinum analog-based chemotherapy) compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy with delayed cytoreductive surgery. Analysis encompassed early and late treatment outcomes and complications in both groups. Material and method: Analysis included patients with FIGO stage III ovarian cancer, treated at the Department of Female Genital Tumors at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Warsaw, since 2003 thru 2005. Original group of 86 patients meeting inclusion criteria was subdivided into subgroups, depending on treatment protocol implemented. Control group included 45 patients after primary optimal cytoreduction and complementary chemotherapy. Study group included 26 patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy with delayed surgery. Results: Mean follow-up was 38.5 months. A noticeable initial intergroup difference consisted in higher incidence of ascites and higher baseline titer of CA-125 in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group. Surgery was considered radical in 63.4% of patients undergoing primary surgery and in 80.8% of those operated on after 3 cycles of chemotherapy. Delayed surgery was associated with a significantly lower blood loss. Therapeutic response and progression-free or recurrence-free survival did not differ in both groups. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with delayed cytoreductive surgery in many cases improves the outlook of initially inoperable patients.