Robert Keith, MD

Professor, Medicine-Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care


FacultyPhoto
Medical School
  • MD, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine (1993)
Undergraduate School
  • AB, Stanford University (CA) (1989)
Internship
  • University of Washington Program (1993)
Residency
  • University of Washington Program, Chief Resident, Internal Medicine (1994)
Fellowships
  • University of Colorado, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine (1996)
Department
Medicine-Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care

Professional Titles

  • Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology
  • Associated Chief of Staff - Research (Denver VAMC)

Publications

  • Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Pathway of the Month, Prostacyclin in Lung Cancer
  • Merrick DT, Kittelson J, Winterhalder R, Kantantoulas G, Ingeberg S, Keith RL, Kennedy TC, Miller YE, Franklin WA, Hirsch FR. Analysis of c-erb-B1(EGFR) and c-erb-B2 (HER2) Expression in Bronchial Dysplasia: Evaluation of Potential Targets for Chemoprevention of Lung Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research
  • Keith RL and YE Miller. Lung Cancer: Genetics of Risk and Advances in Chemoprevention. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, 11:265-71, 2005.
  • Merrick DT, Haney J, Miller YE, Keith RL, Kennedy TC, Franklin WA. Overexpression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Its Receptors in Bronchial Dypslasia Demonstrated by Quantitative RT-PCR Analysis. Lung Cancer, 48:31-45, 2005.
  • Kennedy TC, Franklin WA, Prindiville SA, Cook R, Dempsey EC, Keith RL, Hirsch FR, Merrick TA, Shroyer KR, Petty TL, Byers T, Bunn PA, Miller YE. High Prevalence of Occult Endobronchial Malignancy in High Risk Patients with Moderate Dysplasia in Sputum. Lung Cancer, 49(2):187-91, 2005
  • Attenuation of the pulmonary inflammatory response following butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) treatment of cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) null mice. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol. Physiol,
  • Stearman RS, Dwyer-Nield L, Zerbe L, Blaine SA, Chan Z, Bunn PA, Hirsch FR, Merrick DT, Franklin WF, Baron AE, Keith RL, Nemenoff RA, Malkinson AM, Geraci MW. Analysis of Orthologous Gene Expression Between Human Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma and a Carcinogen-Induced Murine Model. American Journal of Pathology, 167:1763-1775, 2005.
  • Keith RL, Blatchford PJ, Kittelson J, Minna JD, Kelly K, Massion PP, Franklin WA, Mao J, Wilson DO, Merrick DT, Hirsch FR, Kennedy TC, Bunn PA, Geraci MW, Miller YE. Oral Iloprost Improves Endobronchial Dysplasia in Former Smokers. Cancer Prevention Research, 2011, in press.
  • Varella-Garcia M, Schulte AP, Wolf HJ, Feser WJ, Zeng C, Braudrick S, Yin X, Hirsch FR, Kennedy TC, Keith RL, Barón AE, Belinsky SA, Miller YE, Byers T, Franklin WA. The detection of chromosomal aneusomy by fluorescence in situ hybridization in sputum predicts lung cancer incidence. Cancer Prevention Research, 3(4): 447-53, 2010. PMID: 20332298
  • Tennis MA, Van Scoyk M, Heasley LE, Vandervest K, Weiser-Evans M, Freeman S, Keith RL, Simpson P, Nemenoff RA, Winn RA. Prostacyclin and its synthetic analogues are small-molecule agonists of Frizzled 9 mediating growth inhibition of non-small cell lung cancer cells. Neoplasia, 12(3):244-53, 2010. PMID: 20234818
  • Tennis MA, Vanscoyk M, Keith RL, Winn RA. The Role of Prostacyclin in Lung Cancer. Translational Research, 155(2):57-61, 2010 PMID: 20129485
  • Keith RL, Karoor V, Mozer AB, Hudish TM, Le M, Miller YE. Chemoprevention of Murine Lung Cancer by Gefitinib in Combination with Prostacyclin Synthase Overexpression. Lung Cancer, 2010
  • Hudish TM, Opincariu LI, Mozer AB, Johnson MS, Cleaver TG, Malkoski SP, Merrick DT, Keith RL. N-nitroso-tris.chloroethylurea Induces Pre-Malignant Squamous Dysplasia in Mice. Cancer Prevention Research, 2011 Nov 15. PMID: 22086679
  • Geraci MW, Keith RL. Con: The Case for Expanded Lung Cancer Research Support. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011 Dec 1;184(11):1234-6. PMID: 22162887
  • Keith RL, Blatchford PJ, Kittelson J, Minna JD, Kelly K, Massion PP, Franklin WA, Mao J, Wilson DO, Merrick DT, Hirsch FR, Kennedy TC, Bunn PA, Geraci MW, Miller YE. Oral Iloprost Improves Endobronchial Dysplasia in Former Smokers. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2011 Jun;4(6):793-802.PMID: 21636546
  • Hickey GA, Keith RL, Miller YE. Common Pathobiologic Origins of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Cancer: More Than Just a Smoking Gun. Lung Cancer Management 1(4), 239-242, 2012
  • Mascaux C, Feser WJ, Lewis MT, Baron AE, Coldren CD, Merrick DT, Kennedy TC, Eckelberger JI, Rozeboom LM, Franklin WA, Minna JD, Bunn PA, Miller YE, Keith RL*, Hirsch FR* (* co senior authors). Endobronchial miRNA Expression as Biomarkers in Lung Cancer Chemoprevention, Cancer Prevention Research, Epub ahead of print, Dec 26 2012 PMID: 23268837
  • Keith RL. Lung Cancer Chemoprevention: 2011 Aspen Lung Conference State-of-the-Art Presentation. Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society,9(2): 52-56, 2012 PMID: 22550242
  • Keith RL, Miller YE. Lung cancer chemoprevention: current status and future prospects. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2013 Jun;10(6):334-43. PubMed PMID: 23689750
  • Szabo E, Mao JT, Lam S, Reid ME, Keith RL. Chemoprevention of lung cancer: Diagnosis and management of lung cancer, 3rd ed: American College of Chest Physicians evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Chest. 2013 May;143(5 Suppl):e40S-60S. PubMed PMID: 23649449
  • Mascaux C, Feser WJ, Lewis MT, Barón AE, Coldren CD, Merrick DT, Kennedy TC, Eckelberger JI, Rozeboom LM, Franklin WA, Minna JD, Bunn PA, Miller YE, Keith RL, Hirsch FR. Endobronchial miRNAs as biomarkers in lung cancer chemoprevention. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2013 Feb;6(2):100-8. PubMed PMID: 23268837
  • Tennis MA, New ML, McArthur DG, Merrick DT, Dwyer-Nield LD, Keith RL. Prostacyclin reverses the cigarette smoke-induced decrease in pulmonary Frizzled 9 expression through miR-31. Sci Rep. 2016 Jun 24;6:28519. PubMed PMID: 27339092
  • Merrick DT, Gao D, Miller YE, Keith RL, Baron AE, Feser W, Kennedy TC, Blatchford PJ, Braudrick S, Hirsch FR, Heasley L, Bunn PA Jr, Franklin WA. Persistence of Bronchial Dysplasia Is Associated with Development of Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2016 Jan;9(1):96-104. PubMed PMID: 26542061
  • Ghosh M, Miller YE, Nakachi I, Kwon JB, Barón AE, Brantley AE, Merrick DT, Franklin WA, Keith RL, Vandivier RW. Exhaustion of Airway Basal Progenitor Cells in Early and Established COPD. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 Dec 6. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 29211494
  • Dwyer-Nield L, Hickey GA, Friedman M, Choo K, McArthur DG, Tennis MA, New ML, Geraci M, Keith RL. The Second-Generation PGI2 Analogue Treprostinil Fails to Chemoprevent Tumors in a Murine Lung Adenocarcinoma Model. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2017 Nov;10(11):671-679. PubMed PMID: 28851689
  • Keith RL, Blatchford PJ, Merrick DT, Bunn PA Jr, Bagwell B, Dwyer-Nield LD, Jackson MK, Geraci MW, Miller YE. A Randomized Phase II Trial of Pioglitazone for Lung Cancer Chemoprevention in High-Risk Current and Former Smokers. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2019 Oct;12(10):721-730. PubMed PMID: 31308004
  • Ha DM, Prochazka AV, Bekelman DB, Stevens-Lapsley JE, Chan ED, Keith RL. Association of Leisure-Time Physical Activity With Health-Related Quality of Life Among US Lung Cancer Survivors. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2021 Feb;5(1). PubMed PMID: 35075444
  • Koff PB, Min SJ, Freitag TJ, Diaz DLP, James SS, Voelkel NF, Linderman DJ, Diaz Del Valle F, Zakrajsek JK, Albert RK, Bull TM, Beck A, Stelzner TJ, Ritzwoller DP, Kveton CM, Carwin S, Ghosh M, Keith RL, Westfall JM, Vandivier RW. Impact of Proactive Integrated Care on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Chronic Obstr Pulm Dis. 2021 Jan;8(1). PubMed PMID: 33238087
  • Dwyer-Nield LD, McArthur DG, Tennis MA, Merrick DT, Keith RL. An Improved Murine Premalignant Squamous Cell Model: Tobacco Smoke Exposure Augments NTCU-Induced Murine Airway Dysplasia. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2021 Mar;14(3):307-312. PubMed PMID: 33115782

Practice Locations

Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center
1055 Clermont St
Denver, CO 80220
1-888-336-8262

Hospital Affiliation
  • University of Colorado Hospital
  • Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Specialty Information

Specialties
  • Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, Board Certification
Conditions & Treatments
  • Cancers - Lung Cancer
  • Cancers
Clinical Interests
Lung cancer prevention and early diagnosis Advanced bronchoscopy