A teenager was horrified to discover that her severe tummy ache was due to a monster tumour that was growing teeth and organs. Seventeen-year-old Nesli Meir had a recurrent sharp pain in her lower right abdomen for some time, which was ignored.

However, she went to the emergency services when she could not bear the agony and a CT scan revealed a benign teratoma—a monster tumour that was the size of a tennis ball.

Shockingly, the mass also grown a tooth. In the same scan, the doctors also found another smaller tumour. “The CT scan showed I had teratoma and it was really scary because of how big it is,” Nesli told the New York Times. “The lady that did the ultrasound said there is a spot that could be an eyeball because it has liquid in it, so we’re waiting until the surgery to find out.” Doctors have told Nesli that surgery would be needed to remove the tumours, and she may even lose her right ovary. “The pain is really bad, and I try to tune it out, but it’s still lingering,” she admitted.

Nesli said the doctors told her the tumours were formed due to calcification—where excess calcium leads the tissue to harden—causing the bizarre development of teeth.

A teratoma is a type of germ cell tumour that starts in your reproductive cells, like eggs and sperm. According to experts, most of the teratomas are benign but sometimes they can become malignant as well. Germ cells are the only cells in your body that can turn into many other types of cells. So, when a tumour starts, it can turn into many different types of tissue—containing fragments of any body part.

While they can contain body parts like hair and teeth, less commonly teratomas even contain remnants of complex body parts like the liver, lungs, and brain.

Doctors say those with teratomas may not show any symptoms at first, but once they develop, they can vary significantly depending on the tumour’s location. A few of them may include:

• Pain
• Bleeding
• Swelling
• Abdominal pain
• Pelvic pain
• Lump and swelling in your testicles
• Constipation
• Weakness in legs
• Slightly elevated levels of the hormone BhCG or beta-human chorionic gonadotropin
• Slightly elevated levels of tumour marker AFP

But you may also develop specific additional symptoms based on the location of the teratoma tumour.

According to experts, teratoma develops when there are disruptions during your cells’ differentiation process. It is like cell differentiation in an embryo: Unspecialized cells (cells that don’t have a specific function yet) turn into specialized cells with a specific purpose (like blood cells, nerve cells, and muscle cells).

In the case of teratoma, your unspecialized germ cells turn into different types of specialized cells (like hair cells, muscle cells, and bone cells). That is why teratoma contains a collection of seemingly random body parts and tissues.

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