Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Cancer of the Tongue

Abstract

The Scottish architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh died of an advanced cancer of the tongue at the age of 60 in 1928. He was treated by radium which was a controversial method at that time. There is good evidence that he was well palliated, and was able to live a fairly normal life for over a year. In recent years there has been an increase in interest in Mackintosh's life and work, but an examination of the literature of the 1920s shows that despite advances in treatment methods over the past 60 years, this has not been matched by an improvement in survival rates for cancer of the tongue. In this unpleasant tumour which history has shown to be particularly resistant to attempts at cure it is important that quality of life is fully considered.