What is teratoma?
Insofar as modern science can determine, cancer as a medical phenomenon makes perfect sense. Cells divide from birth until death, but there are mechanisms in place to prevent healthy cells from dividing uncontrollably. Cancer, therefore, is nothing more than unregulated cell growth. Granted, cancer is almost impossible to “cure” and difficult to treat, but modern research is working on reducing the problem to a manageable level. Therefore, cancer makes relative amounts of sense according to medical science.
Part of what makes cancer so notoriously difficult to cure is the fact that cancer is not an individual medical diagnosis. Those diagnosed with the disease are not simply given a cancerous diagnosis. They are diagnosed with cancer of a specific type: cancer of the liver, cancer of the brain, cancer of the skin—so forth. News outlets tend to hail miracle cancer cures on an almost daily basis, but the cure for breast cancer isn’t necessarily going to treat leukemia.
In this same line of thinking, one wouldn’t normally expect to find teeth cells in a breast tumour. Except, of course, in the instance of teratoma: a kind of tumour comprised of cells not typically found at the host site. Think of teratoma as that uninvited party guest that happens to bring along their entirely crowd of undesirables. It’s bad enough that Tony found his way over to the gathering, but he also invited Stephen, Louise, Raimundo, and Terrance—and they’re all spiking the punch.
How does teratoma work?
Before I continue and incite a riot of concern, it must be stated that teratoma is a rare diagnosis, and the tumours are usually benign. That is to say, teratoma are usually inactive clumps of cells that are not typically going to expand or grow beyond their current size. Unlike malignant tumours that are still active and spreading, benign tumours are non-cancerous, have a much slower growth rate, and are relatively not life-threatening.
Teratomas are found in both adults and infants, and can be identified in fetuses. However, teratomas typically grow before birth, and many of these tumours are diagnosed until an individual is well into adulthood.
Teratomas belong to a class of tumours called nonseminomatous germ cell tumours (NSGCT). Germ cells are cells that typically contain half the biological information of a somatic cell. The gamete, for instance, is a germ cell. Germinomatous and seminomatous refer to tumours comprised of ovary or testicle cells. While teratomas can be found on the ovaries or testicles, they are typically comprised of additional cells that are not related to the testicles or ovaries.
For anyone trying to figure out which cells are not related to the ovaries and testicles—the organs responsible for creating life and, therefore, all human cells, don’t worry, it doesn’t get any less confusing than what comes next. All tumours within the NSGCT class are the result of abnormally developed germ and embryonal cells.
Finding an adequate answer to the question, “How do teratomas work?” would probably award me a Nobel Prize. As with all things related to cancerous cells, more research is required for a meaningful answer.
Why is teratoma important?
I’d like to begin this section by stating that until two weeks ago, I had no idea what teratoma was. It was thanks to a friendly suggestion that I looked up teratoma and proceeded to write this column. However, even before conducting any research, my immediate thought was: if teratoma are comprised of cells not typically found at a host site, doesn’t that mean they showcase pluripotency? That is to say, shouldn’t we research teratoma to find out if we can aid our stem cell research efforts?
As it turns out, teratoma are fascinating to consider because they showcase the ability to differentiate from one type of cell to another. Like stem cells, which by definition are pluripotent and able to differentiate into any kind of cell, teratoma too
What is the future of teratoma?
Perhaps the only issue with stem cell research—if one is inclined to consider it a problem to conduct stem cell research—is that cells must be harvested from potential humans. Thanks to a research team at Harvard, however, even this particular issue is quickly being resolved. For the outspoken who don’t believe in stem cell research, however, studying the differentiation of teratomas could lead to a breakthrough in pluripotency research.
As always, I look forward to the absurd possibilities.