As I have said before, it is quite incredible the multitude of ways in which our body can fail, resulting in illnesses that seem to be the product of the twisted imagination of H. P. Lovecraft. Surely we all have seen documentaries or read about pathologies that twist the human body to grotesque proportions, leaving us with disturbing mental images that we see every time we close our eyes and stay with us for days. Today's illness will be one of those, and it will serve to remind us that no matter how things are, they can always be worse. Leaving aside this positive and encouraging introduction, let's go straight to the case at hand:

Rare Diseases: Teratomas

When we hear something related to tumors, we immediately think about cancer, associate it with an imminent death, and begin cooking crystal meth in an RV to leave some money to our family after our departure. However, not all tumors are malignant, that is, harmful to our health; most neoplasms (fancy name for tumors) are benign, and apart from the discomfort of having an abnormal mass of tissue in some part of our body, they do not usually endanger the life of those afflicted. An example of this are the fibroids; non-cancerous tumors composed of fibers and muscle tissue, which are usually located in the female uterus, and generally do not produce symptoms.

But, the fact that these malignant tumors do not usually cause damage to our health does not mean that some of them do not come from the depths of Hades, from the most disturbing nightmares of Edgar Allan Poe, or from the most imaginative of Guillermo Del Toro´s illustrations. I am talking about a type of neoplasm known as teratoma, whose description belongs more to a horror film than to one of my articles, but well, I always try to bring as many interesting topics as possible to you, my dear audience.

The name has its origin in the Greek words "teratos" (monster) and the suffix "oma", which denotes a tumorous growth. Basically, it means "monstrous tumor"; not exactly the kind of thing you would like to discover in your body. It is a neoplasm composed of several types of tissues, originally created by stem cells. These cells have the ability to become any cell in the body, and occasionally they generate tissues in places where they are not supposed to be, because life is horrible, and we all come to this cruel world only to suffer. Teratomas usually contain hair, bone, muscles, teeth, and even complete organs such as eyes, heart, feet, and hands. In 2003 there was a case of a Japanese woman from whom a teratoma was extracted with a torso, head, and well-formed limbs, and which had eyes, teeth, viscera, bones and a brain. Surely the name does not seem so sensationalistic now, right?

They are commonly found in the woman´s uterus or ovaries, although they can also be found in the male testicles, in the thorax, abdomen, pelvic region, and in part of the brain. The cause of its genesis is an abnormal development of embryonic tissue created by stem cells (bad luck, really), and according to their level of development, it can be mature (usually benign, of slow growth and a size between 5 and 45 centimeters), or immature (rare, and usually cancerous). The symptomatology depends on the type; Patients with a mature teratoma are mostly asymptomatic, but may have pain in the area where the tumor is located, with a severity depending on its size and shape. In addition, it can compress organs such as the bladder, rectum, heart or lungs, preventing their normal functioning, and causing nausea, weight gain, or an increase in the frequency of the urge to urinate or evacuate. If the teratoma is immature, it can bring serious health consequences due to its malignant character; that is, it is able to invade other tissues, affecting the organism in various ways as it expands throughout the body. This type is usually larger than mature teratomas, and its expansion can be highly aggressive. It is divided into three grades, depending on the amount of immature tissue they have, and the higher the degree, the worse the prognosis, and the greater the urgency of their treatment.

Ovarian teratoma with skin tissue, hair, and teeth on the bottom. And no, that's not its original color.

Teratomas are diagnosed mainly by means of imaging studies such as ultrasounds or tomographies, since they are usually difficult to palpate. However, because in most cases patients have no symptoms, it is common for them to be discovered accidentally during other unrelated surgeries, such as a cesarean section or a hysterectomy (imagine looking into the patient´s abdomen and finding a tumour with an eyeball staring right at you). To know if it is a mature or immature tumor, a sample is taken and a histological analysis of its tissue is performed.

As for its treatment, it depends again on its type. If it is mature, its treatment is purely surgical through the removal of the neoplasm. Due to its benign nature, this type of teratoma does not constitute a medical emergency; although its elimination is recommended since it can grow to a size that affects the organs surrounding it. If it is an immature tumor, adjuvant chemotherapy is usually the first therapeutic measure, and then it is surgically extracted. The formation of a new teratoma is relatively common in these cases, occurring in approximately 15-25% of cases, although the tumors that are formed are generally mature and therefore benign. In the case that tumors are located in the ovaries, it may be necessary to remove them by oophorectomy.

Teratoma extracted from a lung with fat tissue and well-developed cartilage. I admit that I searched the most disturbing images, but most of them were from histological analysis, pity.

As we can see, our body never ceases to amaze us; Just when we think that nothing can be more extraordinary than the changes that occur during puberty, we discover that we may have a tumor with hair, teeth, and part of a heart inside of us. Terrifying Amazing, is not it?

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References:

• What is Teratoma: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis

• Definition of teratoma - Dictionary of cancer

• Mature ovarian cystic teratoma with a highly differentiated homunculus: a case report.

• Definition of Ovarian teratoma

• Mature and immature ovarian teratoma, on the subject of a case

• What is a teratoma? - Definition, types, causes and symptoms

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