We can say that Edward VII has been treated with what was essentially an early form of radiotherapy. It should be noted that in this particular field i.e. medicine, many ideas were simply inspired by new discoveries in various other fields, such as chemistry or physics with doctors trying to extrapolate these discoveries, sometimes by educated guess, sometimes by association, sometimes by sheer trial and error and sometimes, like in case of x-ray or penicillin, due to a stroke of luck.

Radium has been discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie and immediately captured the attention of the medical professionals who have already been using x-rays discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen three years earlier having noticed that prolonged exposure to the radiation causes reactions similar to burns what propelled them to use the x-rays as a cauterization method. By 1898 this method has been used in treatment of various dermal conditions, i.e. by Henri Danlos and Victor Despeignes in France or Francis Williams and Emil Grubbe in USA, predominantly in the therapy of skin neoplasms and lupus. Using aforementioned experiments based on association, researchers also tried to use x-rays and other forms of radiation wherever electrotherapy has been used, from tuberculosis to epilepsy to neoplasms, with varied results. Although majority of uses focused on topical administration, Alexander Graham Bell of the telephone fame suggested in 1903 that it could be beneficial to insert the radioactive material inside the tumours thus maximizing the effect (this method was extensively used by Canadian physician William Aikins in the second decade of 20th century). Of course, such experiments were yielding a whole gamut of results, from beneficial to lethal, as physicians were generally aware that the radiation can kill microorganisms and destroy tissues, but the exact mechanisms behind such phenomena were yet not fully understood. Harmful side-effects, compounded by the general deterioration of health seen in radiation researchers, such as Curies or Henri Becquerel quickly gave rise to the concerns of the radiological safety that resulted in the discovery of the danger posed by radioactive compounds.

However, the experiments concerning the usage of radiation in the treatment of the lupus resulted in the creation of ultraviolet therapy by Niels Finsen who has been awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in 1903. It was also discovered that the application of radium seems to be beneficial in the treatment of some neoplasms, including certain forms of epitheliomas and basal cell carcinomas (BCC). The 'rodent ulcer' mentioned in the article is the name used in early 20th century for BCC and thus the remission caused by the application of radiation was already considered an alternative to the operation by the medical society in 1907. On a side note, after the successful treatment, Edward VII helped to establish London Radium Institute in 1909.

It should be noted however, that the dangers associated with the radiation were far from being common knowledge in mid-1920s, when the popularity of radio-quackery was at its peak. Trying to capitalize on the new discoveries, many swindlers or even good-willing doctors certain of the efficacy of proposed methods introduced numerous preparations and devices allegedly or actually using the radioactive materials, as they did in mid-19th century with the electricity (with the 'Oscilloclast' and "Dynomizer' devices created by Dr. Albert Abrams in USA being the best known example). Most common radioactive products included e.g. water subjected to the radiation, such as the 'Radithor' produced since 1918 by William Bailey that was distilled water containing radium salts (1 μCi of radium-226 and radium-228) or 'Revigorator' water fountains and containers made of porous clay containing trace amount of radium. But a discerning customer could have also bought solid preparations in the form of powder (Standard Radium) or tablets (Arium Radium Tablets) or even suppositories (Vita Radium), as well as toothpaste (Doramad) or even such mundane product as biscuits baked with 'radiated water' i.e. water that has been infused by radon through direct contact with radium (Radium Wasser-Zwieback produced in Czechoslovak city of Jachymov). There were also objects allegedly imparting beneficial radiation, such as pillows (Sunshine Radon Health Mine), poultices (Radiumchema) or elastic bands (Degnen’s Standard Radioactive Solar Pad). Given how important sexual prowess was to many men, the inventory of such remedies would have not been complete without the radioactive precursor to sildenafil citrate, namely 'Radioendocrinator' introduced to market by aforementioned William Bailey. It was a small metal box containing several sheets of paper infused with the radium salt solution. Producer recommended keeping it close to crotch during sleep. The results were most likely completely opposite, given that modern analysis of radioactivity revealed that compliance with recommendation would mean the absorbed dose of 300-400 mR/h, meaning that wearing it everyday for three months would have caused a high-end subclinical radiation poisoning, while wearing it for about a year would most likely cause a potentially lethal poisoning, with high chance of soft tissue damage in the exposed area.

As one can see, such products were quite popular in 1920s and 1930s, mainly due to the interest in the newly discovered radioactivity and initial successes of the early forms of radiotherapy. In the later decade the dangers associated with radiation became better understood marking the quick decline of the radioactive medications and introduction of extensive safety measures and more scrutiny in radiotherapy, especially after it became obvious that the radiation poisoning is not necessarily evident immediately and potentially lethal side effects might occur even after decades of exposure.

So to sum it up, in 1907, when the king have underwent the procedure, radium therapy was indeed an early form of radiotherapy that, although still not well understood, was observed to have at least some beneficial results and thus was considered worthy of developing and pursuing it further.

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Armstrong, D., Armstrong, E.M., The Great American Medicine Show. Prentice Hall, New York 1991.

Holbrook, S.A., The Golden Age of Quackery. MacMillan & Co., Boston 1959.

Hayter, C., Element of Hope: Radium and the Response to Cancer in Canada, 1900-1940. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005.