Fig. 1: Graphical abstract and sample inclusion.

A Graphical overview of the study. Primary ovarian cancer patients with malignant ascites drainage were included in the study. Patients received neo-adjuvant drug treatment (carboplatin/paclitaxel) and response monitoring was performed by CA125 measurements and CT-scans to measure target lesion size. In the lab, micro-tumours were isolated for drug sensitivity testing. Results from ex vivo drug sensitivity testing in the lab were predictive for patient treatment outcome in the clinic. B Overview of sample inclusion criteria for study dataset. CV = coefficient of variation (stdevneg con/meanneg con). C Correlation of technical replicates (different plates from the same sample) for carboplatin (top, n = 18) and paclitaxel (bottom, n = 16) treatments.