Abstract: Ovarian carcinoma is one of the three common gynecological neoplasms. It typically develops as an insidious disease, with few warning signs or symptoms. By the time it is detected, it is usually in an advanced stage, with a poor diagnosis. Initial debulking surgery followed by chemotherapy is the current treatment for advanced ovarian carcinoma. Optimal cytoreduction can prolong survival time and improve prognosis. For patients with unresectable primary tumors, neoadjuvant chemotherapy can improve the conditions for surgery and the effect of cytoreduction. In order to optimize the conditions and avoid unnecessary laparotomies, it is important to evaluate the feasibility of surgery and to select the proper methods of primary surgery and neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced ovarian carcinoma. At present, feasibility evaluation includes: 1) radiography, e.g., CT, PET and MRI; 2) CA125 value; 3) laparoscopic exploration; 4) other tumor markers such as p53. However, none of these methods can evaluate all of the factors influencing the outcome of cytoreduction to reach an across-the-board evaluation of the surgery. Newmethods and combination of two or more methods can optimize the procedure, reduce residual disease, improve prognosis and prolong survival time. In this article, advances in feasibility evaluations of cytoreduction for advanced ovarian carcinoma and the selection of neoadjuvant chemotherapy are reviewed.