What happened, in summary

Karen Howley LaCamera was 57 when sharp abdominal pain sent her to the emergency room in February 2018. A scan for suspected gallbladder trouble also found an orange-sized ovarian tumor, and she was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer. Within 2 weeks, surgery removed both ovaries, and chemotherapy began in March.

Her treatment became a long series of changes as different regimens stopped working. One chemotherapy approach controlled the cancer for about 6 months, while another lasted only 2 months. Karen later entered a clinical trial that included a PARP inhibitor, but one of the study drugs caused a bowel perforation in November 2019. After a short course of an oral treatment, she joined another clinical trial testing REGN4018. Abdominal tumors required surgery in late 2020, and the REGN4018 trial ultimately put her cancer into remission.

Throughout treatment, Karen stayed active, continued playing competitive tennis, spent time with her husband and daughter, and even completed running events. When the story was written, she had been in remission for nearly a year and returned to her care team every 6 weeks for follow-up. Her experience centers on adapting to repeated treatment changes while maintaining trust in her care team and an active daily life.