Cancer Fighting Video Game

LiveScience writer Andrea Thompson is reporting that a new video game called “Re-mission” just may prove to be beneficial in the fight against cancer in young and older patients alike who play the game.

“‘Re-mission,’ is a 20-level journey through the bodies of fictional patients suffering from different types of cancer, and of course, it can be played by adults and healthy folks as well. But the primary idea is to give patients a sense of control over their disease,” stated Thompson in her report.

Players control a nano-sized robot named Roxxi that blasts cancer cells and battles bacterial infections. The game also helps its players to cope with real, life-threatening side effects to the various treatments they undergo everyday in the real world.

Those who play the game regularly tend to stick to their treatment regimes longer, take their prescribed treatment meds on time and reveal a greater understanding of the disease process that has invaded their bodies.

“It taught me what I was going through and let me be more involved in my recovery,” said 17-year-old leukemia survivor Dan Neumann.

It’s wonderful to finally hear some good news coming out about some of the positive effects of gaming.

Other video games are being developed and used to help patients in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, learning to deal with phsycial and/or mental disabilities, development of social skills and more.

[Above image is a screenshot of the video game featuring Roxxi, the nanobot that fights cancer cells in fictional patient bodies. Credit: CIGNA]