Update: First Tongue Transplant Recipient Making Progress

The recipient of the world's first human tongue transplant is learning to speak and swallow only one month after his operation, according to hospital officials in Vienna.

The patient, a 42-year-old Austrian man who underwent a 14-hour operation on July 19 in which doctors amputated his cancerous tongue and attached a new one, was released this week from Vienna's General Hospital.

The patient has shown no signs of rejecting the new tongue, which is healing well and getting good blood flow, hospital spokesperson Karin Fehringer said.

"Although the tongue still can't be moved, the patient can already swallow some of his own saliva," she said.

The unidentified patient is undergoing speech therapy and can already make himself understood with the help of a tube inserted into his trachea, the hospital said.

Other Sources: General Hospital Wien