Teratoma / teratocarcinoma tumor

Teratomas (also called teratocarcinomas when cancerous) are the ugliest things to ever come out of the human body. The name basically means “monster cancer” and it fits. They’re tumors of the ovaries or testicles. Bicyclist Lance Armstrong had this type of cancer, but the masses they removed from him were fairly small. They’re harder to detect when they occur in a woman’s ovary and can grow to astounding size. Many doctors refuse to show them to the women from whom they are removed. The reason they’re so gross is very simple; they are a cancer of the stem cell and can become any type of cell in the human body. It is not unusual for them to have teeth, hair, blood vessels, or even nerve cells; some have even been known to react to touch.