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Objective: Novel behavioral interventions are needed for patients with cancer who smoke cigarettes. Standard tobacco treatment may not effectively address the psychological distress and/or emotion dysregulation that makes quitting smoking difficult for many patients. Dialectical Behavior Therapy-Skills Training (DBT-ST) has demonstrated efficacy as a brief intervention for managing emotions and stress across varied populations but has not been adapted for patients with cancer who smoke. To determine its suitability for this population, we conducted a scoping review of brief DBT-ST with similar populations: people with substance use, breast cancer, or emotion dysregulation., Methods: We followed PRISMA-ScR (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews) guidelines. Studies were restricted to English-language publications of DBT-ST as a brief intervention of 20 or fewer sessions. We found 26 publications representing 23 research studies, extracted study details, and narratively synthesized the results., Results: The 23 studies included 12 quasi-experimental designs, seven pilot randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and four RCTs. All studies found at least one improvement in a main outcome following DBT-ST intervention, with results maintained at follow-up. Qualitative outcomes indicated high satisfaction with DBT-ST and good retention. Studies recruited diverse participants, with some far exceeding population averages. Over half of the studies included only females or males. We found considerable heterogeneity across studies in intervention design, testing, and measurement., Conclusion: DBT-ST as a brief intervention for people with substance use, cancer, or emotion dysregulation demonstrates sufficient positive outcomes to adapt this approach for patients with cancer who smoke cigarettes., (© 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Buprenorphine-naloxone is a combination medication of an opioid partial agonist and opioid antagonist that is proven to be effective in outpatient management of opioid use disorder (OUD). Tramadol is a centrally acting analgesic. This commonly used pain medication inhibits serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake by acting as a selective agonist on opioid µ receptors. Transition and tapering high-dose tramadol to buprenorphine-naloxone is not well described in the literature. We report a case of a patient who was taking 1,000-1,250 mg of tramadol daily upon presentation to the clinic. She was originally prescribed 150 mg daily with escalation in dose and frequency over a 10-year period. The patient was converted to bupren-orphine-naloxone and has been successful in treatment of OUD for 1 year.

Objective: To describe a group medical visit (GMV) model to facilitate medication assisted therapy., Design: Retrospective cohort analysis., Participants: Adult patients over 18 years of age desiring to receive medication assisted therapy (MAT)., Methods: We describe the MAT GMV model including the clinical flow and group facilitation processes. The key elements for documentation and the medical portion of the visit are discussed. Using descriptive methods, we report the characteristics of our patient population entailing demographics, co-occurring mental health diagnosis, and medication use., Results: A total of 32 patients have participated in our MAT GMV over the past 2 years with nine active patients. Age range of participants is 20-65, with about half of them between 31 and 54; race and ethnicity have been primarily White (87 percent) with equal distribution of male and female patients. Most patients had one or more co-occurring mental health disorder. The majority of patients had a prescription of buprenorphine-naloxone 8-2 mg twice a day (62 percent). Many of our patients had repeated co-occurring illegal substance use on urine testing resulting in program dismissal., Conclusions: MAT GMV is a straightforward and innovative way to deliver care to patients affected by opioid use disorder who are in a maintenance state. One of the biggest obstacles to successful participation in this program is repeated co-occurring illegal substance use. When remission is achieved via MAT GMV, provider efficiency is also increased and patients accomplish a sense of wellbeing via therapy, self-management, and medication assistance.