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Background: Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and complete surgical removal of the tumor, in relapsing patients may provide a clinical benefit. There is no consensus considering the place of HIPEC for patients who had first ovarian cancer relapse. To assess for possible efficacy of HIPEC on overall survival (OS) rates in this situation, we performed a multi-institutional study., Methods: The current study was a retrospective case control multi-institutional study comparing a group of patients treated with HIPEC to a group of patients treated without HIPEC. Inclusion criteria were first relapse of a serous ovarian carcinoma and >6 months after the end of initial treatment. Exclusion criteria were another pathological subtype of ovarian cancer, a relapse at <6 months after initial treatment, and a second relapse or more. We aimed to assess OS, morbidity, and mortality rates and prognostic factors., Results: From June 1997-July 2011, 42 patients were included, 23 in the HIPEC group and 19 in the control group. Each patient from the two groups had a complete secondary surgery at the time of the first relapse. At 4 years OS was 75.6 % in the HIPEC group and 19.4 % in the control group (p = 0.013). In a multivariate analysis, HIPEC and interval-free before the end of initial treatment were both independent prognostic factors., Conclusion: When compared to the control group, complete secondary surgery and HIPEC appear to afford a better OS rate than complete secondary surgery alone, in case of first ovarian cancer relapse. Further randomized trials are warranted to confirm these results.