Video game helps young cancer patients

August 21, 9:59 PMHealth ExaminerAngela Spears

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In a controlled study the video game Re-Mission helped some adolescents and young adult cancer patients follow their prescribed treatment more closely. Research sponsored by HopeLab a Redwood City, California-based company and published in this month’s medical journal Pediatrics cites the video-game intervention significantly improving treatment in adolescents and young adults who were undergoing cancer therapy.

According to the report, adhering to prescribed treatment is a major problem with young people 13 - 29. While dramatic improvements in survival have been seen in pediatric cancer patients, death rates among teens and young adult patients have not followed this trend. They're a tough group that gets a little bit lost in the system.

To test the validity of playing a video game for cancer treatment, the researchers randomly assigned 375 teens and young adults with cancer at 34 medical centers in the United States, Canada and Australia during three months of cancer therapy to play “Re-Mission” or a commercially sold video game.

In Re-Mission, a video game already distributed in 80 countries and developed by HopeLab, players control a tiny robot called Roxxi who moves around in a 3-D environment representing the inside of the body of a young cancer patient. Players can use Roxxi to blast cancer cells and control side effects, and winning the game requires taking chemotherapy and antibiotics, using relaxation techniques, eating food, and keeping up with other types of self-care.

Participants who played Re-Mission maintained higher levels of chemotherapy in their blood and took their antibiotics more consistently. They also gained a better understanding of cancer-related issues. “We now know that games can induce positive changes in the way individuals manage their health,” said Dr. Steve Cole, Ph.D., vice president of research at HopeLab and co-author of the article. “The game not only motivates positive health behavior; it also gives players a greater sense of power and control over their disease – in fact, that seems to be its key ingredient.”

The data that HopeLab will present in Tokyo at the 10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine August 27 - 30, 2008 is from a study on the Re-Mission video game using fMRI (brain imaging) technology to identify how playing Re-Mission impacts the brain.

Re-Mission is available to download or order online at www.re-mission.net/  The game is available in English, Spanish and French and is free of charge to young people with cancer, their families and caregivers.