14 DAY TRIAL // We know the case of that Romanian woman, Lucica Bunghez, with a tumor of 80 kg (176 pounds), heavier than her own body, but when the tumor actually hangs on the face, it does not need to grow that big to induce more severe effects.
Huang Chuncai, 31, a Chinese man from the southern province of Hunan, has a crippling 15 kg (33.3 pounds) tumor drooping from his head and face. It is the biggest facial tumor ever. The man can hardly speak as the excrescence is so enormous that he has to cradle it when he stands.
His left eye is completely covered, while his left ear is found on his shoulder. The right ear and jaw have been also compassed by the tumor. The tumor makes Huang experience continual pain and deprived him of a social life. Huang is going to undergo a life-threatening surgery to remove the tumor.
"Because I am going to have surgery, I am afraid of how everything will turn out," he said.
His face and head swelled from his childhood.
"His mother said he should be a government official when he grew up because his head was so big. His head got bigger and bigger each year," said neighbour Huang Bamei.
Clinical data from a hospital in the city of Guangzhou show that the tumor is roughly 57 cm (22.4 inches) long and has a 97 cm (38 inches) circumference; the man is 135 cm (4 ft 5 inches) tall. He lost all teeth at the age of 25 and his backbone got malformed due to the enormous weight of the malformation.
His mother hopes he could live a normal life after surgery.
"I am holding his hand, patting his head, and he told me: 'Don't cry mother. I should get better. Everything that can be cured, will be cured.' I love him a lot," said Huang's mother, He Baohua.
Huang suffers from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease affecting primarily the development and growth of the nervous tissues. The tumors grow initially on nerves but they extend on the skin and bones. Even if hereditary in most cases, almost 30-50 % of new cases emerge spontaneously.
Surgery can work in some bone malformations and eliminate painful or disfiguring tumors, but they could regrow in larger numbers.
Ultrasound technique showed that Huang's tumor is filled with blood vessels and if surgeons do not manage to block hemorrhaging for any reason, he could experience a deadly blood loss in two minutes.