Teen Turns Family Cancer Trauma into an Educational Card Game

When Daniel Zhang was four, he sat at a mahjong table with his grandmother, laughing as tiles clacked. Those warm afternoons felt timeless—until a handful of years later, when a pancreatic cancer diagnosis turned his world upside‑down.

His grandma’s battle with Stage 3 pancreatic cancer was the first time young Daniel truly sensed helplessness. He watched chemotherapy drain her hair, saw her fatigue ripple through family conversations, and wondered why the very medicine meant to heal seemed to make her weaker. The images stayed with him, vague and frightening, like a monster lurking in the dark.

Fast forward to middle school: his grandfather was diagnosed with bladder cancer. The same bewildered look appeared on his seven‑year‑old sister’s face when doctors used words that sounded like a secret code. Determined not to let the mystery repeat, Daniel started asking endless questions, poring over medical reports, and bombarding his immunology‑savvy father with queries. By the time his grandfather recovered, Daniel realized he’d stumbled onto a purpose – to give other kids the vocabulary and confidence they needed when cancer crept into their lives.

That purpose became Tumor Tactics, a 72‑card strategy game that treats cancer education like a friendly match of Pokémon or Yu‑Gi‑Oh! Players assume the role of doctors, each laying out three tumor cards—lung, colon, and skin—then drawing treatment cards such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy. The goal? Assemble the right combo to shrink the tumor, while learning why stage, location, and molecular profile matter.

Developed under the nonprofit STEAMLabs International, which Daniel co‑founded, the game has already made its rounds in Southern California. A grant from the American Society for Cell Biology funded a pilot with 150 San Diego students; more than 225 decks landed at Scripps Health and Rady Children’s Hospital, and a thousand curious kids flipped cards at the county fair. The numbers speak for themselves: after playing, 95 % of participants scored higher on a short cancer‑biology quiz, especially on questions about tumor staging.

Recognition followed. The team snagged the 2026 International Serious Play Award for a Higher‑Ed tabletop game, presented their findings at a United Nations Science Summit virtual session, and earned spots as finalists at the 14th International Educational Game Competition and the European Conference on Games‑Based Learning. Their work even appeared in an article for the American Society for Cell Biology, where Daniel highlighted how students explained why “a higher stage means a tougher treatment plan.”

Balancing school at Canyon Crest Academy, research stints at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and Cambridge University’s Cancer Research Institute, and running a nonprofit, Daniel says the secret to his momentum has been “having people around you who get excited about the same thing and keep pushing you forward.”

Today, Tumor Tactics sits on library shelves, in hospital waiting rooms, and on classroom tables, turning what once felt like a “big, scary monster” into a deck of cards you can actually hold. For the kids who play, cancer becomes a concept they can discuss, question, and ultimately demystify—one turn at a time.