Doctors in southwest China have successfully replaced a section of a female cancer patient's forehead with a 3D-printed part. The patient who is in her early 20s has had recurrent tumors for over 16 years, and has had to maintain bangs to cover the growths. When her tumors first began to show, Liu had them removed but they returned larger than before. Although benign, due to their location they put pressure against her right eye socket. A complete excision was the only procedure, but it would disfigure her face and the damage would be impossible to repair by plastic surgery. Hence, a 3D-printed bone replica procedure was agreed as the best operation.
