"Are You Talking to Me?" Confronting Behavioral Disturbances in Patients With Headache

The famous question, "Are you talking to me?," was coined by Robert DeNiro in his lead role as Travis Bickle in the Martin Scorsese classic, Taxi Driver . The phrase also characterizes the troubling encounters that many headache-treating professionals confront as they attempt to discuss serious matters of care and compliance with some of their headache patients. Although most headache patients are eager to take professional advice and guidance, there exists a minority of patients whose behavior undermines a collaborative relationship between doctor and patient. In these cases, the physician may need to directly confront this behavior in order to overcome behavioral barriers that interfere with desirable treatment outcomes. This article offers explicit means and strategies to engage difficult patients, increase the likelihood of program adherence and improvement, and develop a more satisfying doctor-patient relationship, based on clinical experience in a national referral center for difficult-to-manage headache patients.     

What role does gemtuzumab ozogamicin have in the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia?

Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) is a novel, targeted chemotherapy designed to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML). GO consists of an antitumor antibiotic, calicheamicin, linked to a humanized monoclonal antibody against CD33. It has been approved in the United States since 2000 to treat CD33+ AML in first relapse in older adults who are not candidates for cytotoxic therapy. Beyond this indication, the role of GO is evolving. Single-agent GO has a limited role in de novo AML. Incorporation of GO into standard induction treatment in de novo and relapsed AML is feasible. Comparative phase III studies of such an approach are ongoing. GO is associated with serious toxicities, such as infusional reactions, transient liver function test abnormalities, and veno-occlusive disease of the liver, especially in patients who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.     

Safety and effect of transforming growth factor-β2 for treatment of venous stasis ulcers

Transforming growth factor-beta(2) promotes healing in a variety of animal models and exhibits clinical effects thought to be mediated by connective tissue formation. Two clinical trials were conducted to evaluate the safety and effect of transforming growth factor-beta(2) purified from bovine bone and delivered topically to venous stasis ulcers three times per week for up to 6 weeks by means of a lyophilized collagen vehicle. The first was an open-label trial comparing transforming growth factor-beta(2) purified from bovine bone (0.5 microg/cm(2)) with a placebo consisting of lyophilized collagen vehicle-without active drug. After no safety issues arose in that trial, a prospectively randomized, closed-label, observer-blinded, three-armed trial was conducted to compare bovine transforming growth factor-beta(2) (2.5 microg/cm(2)) with the collagen matrix placebo vehicle and with a standard dressing. Standardized elastic compression was applied to all test extremities. The rate of reduction of ulcer area as measured by planimetry was the primary measure of effect. No serious safety-related events occurred in either trial. Clinical evaluation suggested that improvement in the quality and quantity of granulation tissue appeared to precede epithelialization of ulcers treated with bovine transforming growth factor-beta(2). In both studies, treatment with bovine transforming growth factor-beta(2) appeared to have a positive effect on the rate of ulcer closure, whereas ulcers in the control groups continued to exhibit impaired healing. In the open-label study, the mean rate of closure of ulcers treated with bovine transforming growth factor-beta(2) was significantly greater than that of ulcers treated with placebo. There was likewise enhanced reduction in ulcer area in the ulcers treated with bovine transforming growth factor-beta(2) in the second trial. However, because of a higher variability in patient response and a greater placebo effect, the difference was not significant. The placebo was not worse than the standard care arm, thereby showing that the vehicle is not injurious to healing. The combined results of the two trials suggest that, at doses of 0.5 to 2.5 microg/cm(2), bovine transforming growth factor-beta(2) is safe as a topically applied agent in a collagen matrix vehicle and can have a positive effect on closure of venous stasis ulcers. Large multicenter trials appear to be indicated to evaluate fully the potential utility of transforming growth factor-beta(2) in accelerating closure of chronic dermal ulcers.