Fighting cancer with video games

BANGALORE, INDIA: Video games are among the most popular entertainment media in the world. Now, a research claims that a specially designed video game can promote positive behaviors in young cancer patients that enhance the effectiveness of medical treatment.

This research, sponsored by the non-profit organization HopeLab, has been published today in the medical journal 'Pediatrics'.

"We have very effective treatments for cancer in adolescents, but they only work if the patient takes them," said Steve Cole, Ph.D., vice president of research at HopeLab and co-author of the article.

"This study shows that a strategically designed video game can be a powerful new tool to enhance the impact of medical treatment by motivating healthy behavior in the patient."

The study evaluated the impact of playing Re-Mission, a video game developed by HopeLab specifically for teens and young adults with cancer, on key behavioral and psychological factors associated with successful cancer treatment.

In Re-Mission, players pilot a microscopic robot named Roxxi as she travels through the bodies of fictional cancer patients, blasting away cancer cells and battling the side-effects of cancer and cancer treatments.

This study is the largest randomized, controlled study of a video game intervention ever conducted, following 375 teens and young adults with cancer at 34 medical centers in the United States, Canada and Australia during three months of cancer treatment, said a press release received here.

According to the study, participants who were given Re-Mission maintained higher levels of chemotherapy in their blood and took their antibiotics more consistently than those in the control group, demonstrating the game's impact at a biological level, it said.

They also reportedly showed faster acquisition of cancer-related knowledge and faster increase in self-efficacy.

"We now know that games can induce positive changes in the way individuals manage their health," said Dr. Cole. “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."