Tech Shout!

HopeLab has announced the launch of Re-Mission, the first video game scientifically shown to improve the health of adolescents and young adults with cancer. The goal of the game is to help these kids understand and manage their disease better, while feeling better about themselves. Re-Mission is a PC-based video game, available absolutely free to young people with cancer parallel with the release of positive results from the Re-Mission Outcomes Study.

Founded in 2001, HopeLab is a non-profit organization that combines rigorous research with innovative solutions to improve the health and quality of life of young people with chronic illness.

The Re-Mission Outcomes Study is a casual, controlled trial focused solely on young people with cancer. Data from the study showed statistically important improvements in cancer-related self-efficacy, social quality of life, cancer-specific knowledge, and observance to prescribed medication treatments in patients who played Re-Mission.

Re-Mission has been created with the joint efforts of young people with cancer, researchers, medical experts and game developers. The game amalgamates biologic precision with an honest representation of the challenges faced by young cancer patients. The game’s main character, Roxxi, is a gutsy, fully armed Nanobot who seeks out and destroys cancer cells throughout the human body, battling cancer and its life-threatening effects. Re-Mission is a challenging, 3D “shooter” with 20 levels that takes the player on a journey through the bodies of young patients with different kinds of cancer and shows how they can most efficiently fight their disease.

Pat Christen, president of HopeLab said, “Re-Mission works. It gives teens and young adults a sense of power and control over their cancer.” Christen continued, “Research on Re-Mission was conducted in much the same way research into a new drug is conducted, with rigorous testing based on scientific principles. Our study findings clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the game in improving health-related outcomes for these kids. It’s great news.”

The Re-Mission Outcomes Study, conducted by HopeLab, enrolled 375 teens and young adults with cancer at 34 medical centers across the United States, Canada and Australia. Results showed statistically noteworthy developments in cancer-related self-efficacy, social quality of life, and cancer-specific knowledge implanted within the game.

Among study participants who were prescribed oral chemotherapy or antibiotics, those who played Re-Mission maintained high levels of observance to their prescribed medication schedules. Participants playing Re-Mission maintained higher levels of chemotherapy in their blood and took their antibiotics more regularly as compared to the ones in the control group who did not receive Re-Mission.

Re-Mission is a PC-based video game rated “T” (for Teen) and is available through remission.net. Re-mission.net also serves as an interactive, online community for teens.

The game, which is available in English, French and Spanish, is free for teens and young people battling cancer and will be available to others from May 1 onwards, at a suggested donation of $20