Read the original article from USA Today here.

Chinese man gets massive tumor removed

By Dikky Sinn, Associated Press Writer

In this photo released by Fuda Cancer Hospital, Chinese man Huang Chuncai is carried on a stretcher to undergo surgery to remove a 15-kilogram tumor from his face in Guangzhou, southern China, Tuesday, July 24, 2007. The patient suffered from a facial tumor with a perimeter of 97 centimeters (38.2 inches) and measuring 57 centimeters (22.4 inches) long, according to the hospital. (AP Photo/Fuda Cancer Hospital, HO)

More than 10 doctors and nurses took part in the surgery that removed the tumor, said Xu Kecheng, president of Fuda Cancer Hospital in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

Huang Chuncai’s facial tumor became noticeable when he was 4 years old, the hospital said. It grew bigger and more quickly as he grew older, blocking his left eye, pushing his left ear to shoulder level, knocking out his teeth and deforming his backbone.

Huang, 31, had trouble speaking, hearing and eating before the surgery.

Xu said the surgeons’ biggest challenge was to avoid massive bleeding because there were large blood vessels in Huang’s tumor. One the doctors who operated on Huang, Niu Lizhi, said the surgical team prevented bleeding by freezing the tumor.

 This followup article I found in the Metro UK:

Tumour man has second face operation

Monday, January 7, 2008

A man in China has undergone a second operation to remove a massive, 10kg collection of tumours that have virtually hidden his face and are warping his backbone.

Huang Chuncai poses before his second tumour operation

Huang Chuncai underwent his second operation to remove the tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, in southern China’s Guangdong province, on January 3.

 

Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China’s southern province of Hunan, said he is relieved after parts of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg, were removed in July last year.

 

Huang eats in his ward before his operation

His second operation will remove another section of the tumours, weighing 4.5kg.

Huang suffers from Neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues.

 

Huang resting before the operation

His facial tumour first became noticeable when he was just 4 years old, the hospital said in July. Since then it grew larger at an ever faster rate, blocking his left eye, pushing his left ear to shoulder level, knocking out his teeth and deforming his backbone.