The first-ever person to have a face transplant, Frenchwoman Isabelle Dinoire, has died, French doctors say, reports the BBC.
In 2005, surgeons gave her a new nose and mouth after she was disfigured by her pet dog.
But heavy use of immunosuppressant drugs weakened her and she succumbed to cancer in April at the age of 49, the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says.
News of her death, announced by a hospital in Amiens, was delayed to respect her family's privacy.
She told the BBC in 2009 that when she looked in the mirror she saw a mixture of herself and the donor. "The donor is always with me," she said.
Le Figaro newspaper said she had suffered another transplant rejection. The strong anti-rejection treatment she was receiving led to two cancers, it added.
In her BBC interview she said the attack by her dog had come as a result an attempt to end her life.