Dwight McKee, M.D.

Dr. McKee received his B.A. at Williams College (1970), where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum laude, honors in chemistry. From 1970-1973 he studied in a combined M.D.-PhD. program at Case-Western Reserve University. Here he completed first two years of medical school and did three years of graduate work and research in pharmacology. His research work focused on the role of cyclic AMP in the central nervous system, under the guidance of Dr. T.W. Rall, co-discoverer of cyclic AMP. The discovery of cyclic AMP was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1972. Dr. McKee received his M.D. degree from the University of Kentucky in 1975.

He practiced complementary medicine with an emphasis in nutritional and body/mind medicine for 12 years prior to re-entering training in 1988 to complete a three years residency in Internal Medicine. This was followed by three years of subspecialty training in Hematology and Oncology and two years of immunology research at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.

He thus brings a comprehensive perspective to the practice of Oncology and Hematology and is at the forefront of the application of what Dr. Andrew Weil has termed "integrative medicine" to the field of cancer care. Integrative medicine refers to the combining of conventional Western medicine with other modalities such as nutrition, herbs, body/mind medicine, massage therapy, acupuncture.

Dr. McKee has been clinically developing a 5-phase comprehensive cancer treatment strategy since 1995.

The first phase involves maximal reduction of the tumor cell load in the body, using techniques that cause the least amount of damage or suppression to the immune system, especially surgical removal, cryosurgical ablation (tumor freezing) and/or radio frequency hyperthermic ablation (tumor heating).

The second phase consists of rebuilding and repairing the immune function. The third phase is nonspecific immune stimulation with an emphasis towards the cell-mediated branch of the immune system. Nutrition, herbal medicine, massage therapy acupuncture, yoga, and other body/mind therapies are fundamental to the second and third phases of this model, as well as specific therapies such as low dose cytokines.

The fourth phase is immune education for specific and durable anti-tumor response (this involves some form of cancer vaccine therapy, if available). Combining thermal ablation (heat and/or freezing of tumor deposits) followed by potent immune stimulation holds the potential of creating an “in vivo vaccine” effect, with immune recognition of dead tumor cells scavenged by macrophages and dendritic cells, thus combining aspects of the first four phases.

The fifth phase is angiogenesis blockade, which inhibits the growth of new blood vessels, essential to the growth and spread of tumors. This combines nutritional strategies to lower copper levels below that identified by research at the University of Michigan as necessary for effective tumor angiogenesis, with low doses of other angiogenesis inhibitors such as thalidomide, alpha-interferon, COX-2 inhibitors, and low dose weekly chemotherapy agents.

This comprehensive approach has shown promise in stabilizing some patients with previously progressive metastatic cancer, and providing a good quality of life, though long-term outcomes (i.e. > 5 years) are not yet known.

Dr. McKee is not currently involved in direct patient care, but consults with other physicians in the design of treatment and research protocols. He also works as a consultant to the nutraceutical industry in developing advanced nutraceutical formulations with an emphasis on support of the immune system, regulation of the cell cycle, and DNA protection.

To contact Dr. McKee directly, email him at dlmckeemd@aol.com