Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

See also:

• Thoracic/Head and Neck Cancer Research Program
• BRET: Biomedical Research Education & Training Faculty Listing

Research Description My research is focused on molecular imaging of cancer both to improve early and accurate diagnosis and to provide rapid assessment of tumor biology with physiological imaging.  I hope, with my collaborators, to use new tools to identify the risk level of an tumor at time of diagnosis, thus allowing up-front treatment decisions that will provide superior, safer and more cost-effective treatment strategies for each patient.  I also work to discover new insights into tumor biology that will bring new opportunities for treatment, such as when my molecular imaging of myeloma contributed to the discovery DKK1, a gene that is important not only in myeloma but in many other cancers.  New treatments for myeloma are currently being tested that exploit this new knowledge  Importantly, I always consider if my research can lead to improvements in medical care that can ultimately be deployed with affordable, preferably off-the-shelf technology in community hospitals throughout the US so that everyone can ultimately benefit from the contributions I am able to make to the care of patients suffering from cancer.
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Publications

• Walker, RC, Brown, TL, Jones-Jackson, LB, De Blanche, L, Bartel, T Imaging of multiple myeloma and related plasma cell dyscrasias. J Nucl Med, 53(7), 1091-101, 2012.
• McKinley, ET, Smith, RA, Tanksley, JP, Washington, MK, Walker, R, Coffey, RJ, Manning, HC [18F]FLT-PET to predict pharmacodynamic and clinical response to cetuximab therapy in Menetrier's disease. Ann Nucl Med, 26(9), 757-63, 2012.
• Deppen, S, Putnam, JB, Andrade, G, Speroff, T, Nesbitt, JC, Lambright, ES, Massion, PP, Walker, R, Grogan, EL Accuracy of FDG-PET to diagnose lung cancer in a region of endemic granulomatous disease. Ann Thorac Surg, 92(2), 428-32; discussion 433, 2011.
• Grogan, EL, Weinstein, JJ, Deppen, SA, Putnam, JB, Nesbitt, JC, Lambright, ES, Walker, RC, Dittus, RS, Massion, PP Thoracic operations for pulmonary nodules are frequently not futile in patients with benign disease. J Thorac Oncol, 6(10), 1720-5, 2011.
• Bartel, TB, Haessler, J, Brown, TL, Shaughnessy, JD, van Rhee, F, Anaissie, E, Alpe, T, Angtuaco, E, Walker, R, Epstein, J, Crowley, J, Barlogie, B F18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the context of other imaging techniques and prognostic factors in multiple myeloma. Blood, 114(10), 2068-76, 2009.
• Shaughnessy, JD, Zhan, F, Burington, BE, Huang, Y, Colla, S, Hanamura, I, Stewart, JP, Kordsmeier, B, Randolph, C, Williams, DR, Xiao, Y, Xu, H, Epstein, J, Anaissie, E, Krishna, SG, Cottler-Fox, M, Hollmig, K, Mohiuddin, A, Pineda-Roman, M, Tricot, G, van Rhee, F, Sawyer, J, Alsayed, Y, Walker, R, Zangari, M, Crowley, J, Barlogie, B A validated gene expression model of high-risk multiple myeloma is defined by deregulated expression of genes mapping to chromosome 1. Blood, 109(6), 2276-84, 2007.
• Yaccoby, S, Ling, W, Zhan, F, Walker, R, Barlogie, B, Shaughnessy, JD Antibody-based inhibition of DKK1 suppresses tumor-induced bone resorption and multiple myeloma growth in vivo. Blood, 109(5), 2106-11, 2007.
• King, DL, Stack, BC, Spring, PM, Walker, R, Bodenner, DL Incidence of thyroid carcinoma in fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-positive thyroid incidentalomas. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 137(3), 400-4, 2007.
• Walker, R, Barlogie, B, Haessler, J, Tricot, G, Anaissie, E, Shaughnessy, JD, Epstein, J, van Hemert, R, Erdem, E, Hoering, A, Crowley, J, Ferris, E, Hollmig, K, van Rhee, F, Zangari, M, Pineda-Roman, M, Mohiuddin, A, Yaccoby, S, Sawyer, J, Angtuaco, EJ Magnetic resonance imaging in multiple myeloma: diagnostic and clinical implications. J Clin Oncol, 25(9), 1121-8, 2007.
• Walker, RC, Jones-Jackson, LB, Martin, W, Habibian, MR, Delbeke, D New imaging tools for the diagnosis of infection. Future Microbiol, 2(5), 527-54, 2007.
• Mahfouz T, Miceli MH, Saghafifar F, Stroud S, Jones-Jackson L, Walker R, et al. "18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography contributes to the diagnosis and management of infections in patients with multiple myeloma: a study of 165 infectious episodes." Journal of Clinical Oncology, (23), 7857-7863, 2005.
• Miceli MH, Atoui R, Walker R, et al. "Diagnosis of deep septic thrombophlebitis in cancer patients by Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scanning: a preliminary report." Journal of Clinical Oncology, (22), 1949-1956, 2004.
• Angtuaco EJC, Fassas AB, Walker RC, Sethi R, Barlogie B "Multiple myeloma: clinical review and diagnostic imaging." Radiology, (231), 11-23, 2004.
• Maxwell C, Rasmussen E, Zhan F, Keats J, Adamia S, Strachan E, Crainie M, Walker, R, et al. "RHAMM expression and isoform balance predicts aggressive disease and poor survival in multiple myeloma." Blood, (104), 1151-1158, 2004.
• Barlogie B, Shaughnessy J, Tricot G, Jacobson J, Zangari M, Anaissie E, Walker R, Crowley J "Treatment of multiple myeloma." Blood, (103), 20-32, 2004.
• Walker RC, Barlogie B, Shaughnessy J "Letter to the Editor regarding N Eng J Med 349:2483-2494, 2003." New England Journal of Medicine, 14(350), 1465, 2003.
• Walker RC, Zigler SS "PET practice in nuclear pharmacy.." Journal American Pharmacists Association, (32), S42-3, 2003.
• Tian E, Zhan F, Walker R, et al. "The role of the Wn/β-catenin signaling antagonist DKK1 in the development of osteolytic lesions in multiple myeloma.." New England Journal of Medicine, (349), 2483-2494, 2003.
• Walker RC, Weiss DW, Purnell GL, Forte KF "Positron emisson tomography scanning: a primer.." Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society, 4(99), 119-121, 2002.