WVU Medicine: Bringing Quality Cancer Care Close to Home

WVU Medicine is no stranger to pioneering new technology, new service lines, or clinical trials in the effort to better serve their patients. With the commonly used slogan, “providing quality care close to home”, their main focus has always been providing the highest quality version of the types of services most needed in the individual communities they serve. WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital is no different, as they recently had a top physician’s research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Bhavana “Tina” Bhatnagar, D.O., Director of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the WVU Cancer Institute at Wheeling Hospital, very recently had research featured in NEJM.

Dr. Tina Bhatnagar was a co-investigator and co-author on a landmark clinical trial entitled, “Blinatumomab for MRD-Negative Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Adults,” which was published in the July 25, 2024, edition of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

The study team, which included Dr. Bhatnagar, demonstrated that blinatumomab, a novel immunotherapy, improved survival outcome for adult patients, between 30-70 years of age, with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) who have achieved a measurable residual disease (MRD)-negative remission. Blinatumomab is used to treat a B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. It is the is the most common type of acute leukemia in children and accounts for 25% of acute leukemias in adults.

“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to participate and enroll patients in this groundbreaking study, which has certainly changed the standard of care for patients with B-ALL,” Dr. Bhatnagar said. “In addition to improving outcomes for our B-ALL patients, I think this study also speaks to the value of clinical trials and how they advance our knowledge of cancer and provide newer and better avenues for treatments.”

As of September 2024, Dr. Bhatnagar and team at Wheeling Hospital are hosting 20 different clinical trials. The WVU Cancer Institute at Wheeling Hospital has seen tremendous growth with leadership from physicians like Dr. Bhatnagar and look forward to expanding service lines and treatment options as a result of their hard work.

To learn more about WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital and the WVU Cancer Institute, please visit wvumedicine.org/wheeling and wvumedicine.org/cancer.