# Cancer tumors and incipient teeth **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561 "2013-04-13T02:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/21 "2014-11-23T01:03:20Z")
I completely forgot about this thread. And now I want to know what the heck that “ovary” picture was, all over again. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/22 "2014-11-23T04:46:44Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > Apologies for reviving a zombie thread, although when the topic is teratomas it may be appropriate. > > Anywhose, I was reminded of this bygone thread when someone recently pointed me towards [these](http://www.paynesculptures.com/fleshlettes.html) seemingly teratoma-inspired “artworks”. WARNING: On the other side of the link are photos of hellishly distorted and yet realistic anatomic baubles that are, I would say, gruesome but not gory. Grotesque is the word you’re looking for. The titty/tooth/afro thing is kind of scary. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/23 "2014-11-23T09:06:42Z")
One of the more disturbing features of that collection is that they’re all named - as if they were people. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/24 "2014-11-23T10:00:22Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > **With respect to the OP’s question:** > > They can contain essentially ANY type of tissue but, obviously, those with teeth, hair, etc., are lot more, ummm, shall we say, impressive to lay people. In other words, even centuries ago, and in the absence of any medical training, anyone could identify macroscopic and familiar teratoma components such as teeth and hair. On the other hand, it requires advanced technology (i.e. a microscope) and advanced training (i.e. knowledge of histology) to appreciate the presence of, say, thyroid, liver, or nerve tissue within them. Well there is that, but surely various types of flesh growing would be recognizable as that ? The thing is that the rest is said to be _goop_ not anything like flesh. Why does the stem/germ cell change to such disparite specialisations ? It suggests to me that the goop is affected by immunological processes, while the solid production organs seem to be protecting themselves somehow. There is a test… An ovarian cyst may be an actual pregnancy, with a genome the immune system can attack. Can these be differentiated by the action of the immune system on it ? ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/25 "2014-11-23T16:38:38Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Huh, when I open one up I wonder how I’m going to clean the [greasy, sebaceous goo](http://www.hsc.stonybrook.edu/gyn-atlas/images/gr5b.jpg) (produced by skin adnexal tissue in the teratoma) off the cutting board. > > Where have you been, fellow pathologist Oly? > > By the way, while most cystic teratomas in women are benign, a higher percentage of teratomas occurring in some other sites are malignant (for instance, in the testis, where they often are a component of mixed tumors, but do not typically present with structures like teeth and hair). Why did I click on that link? WHYYY?!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/26 "2014-11-23T18:23:36Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > Why did I click on that link? WHYYY?!😃 Oddly, if you do a Google image search for “greasy sebaceous goo”, [this](http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--dQJTmoj2--/197o6e9miyq8wjpg.jpg) now comes up.\* Those Fleshlettes are disturbing. Next time you’re out for a drive, it might be fun to hand one as a gift to the nice lady in the tollbooth. :eek: \*apparently, Hollandaise sauce is not for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/27 "2014-11-23T19:52:20Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Oddly, if you do a Google image search for “greasy sebaceous goo”, [this](http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--dQJTmoj2--/197o6e9miyq8wjpg.jpg) now comes up.\* > > \*apparently, Hollandaise sauce is not for everyone. [Huitlacoche](http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000344.php) would’ve been more apropos. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/28 "2014-11-24T03:46:42Z")
It’s only eaten now and then by some people, but sebacious and gooey (viscous) and greasy (high lipid) are the defining characteristics of cerumen. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/29 "2014-11-24T05:17:01Z")
I swear I’ve heard that some of them have even had _eyes.__shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/30 "2014-11-24T07:07:32Z")
I am so happy this thread got revived. I missed it the first time around. Night shift, even in critical care can have slow times, that without something to entertain would be endless. We had, what we called, _The Ugly Baby Book_. (I don’t remember the real name, because I didn’t need to.) It wasn’t just children, but, I believe every inborn abnormality that has ever occurred in more than one human being. It had many teratoma pictures, one with a fully developed eye. The Fleshlettes, reminded me. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/31 "2016-01-09T16:30:32Z")
Bumped. A mountain lion was just killed in Idaho with some… interesting features: [http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/09/us/idaho-deformed-mountain-lion/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/09/us/idaho-deformed-mountain-lion/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/32 "2016-01-09T17:14:17Z")
Can you give a hint, FTR? I really don’t want to click that. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/33 "2016-01-09T17:20:57Z")
Mountain lion with teeth sticking out of its head ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/34 "2016-01-09T20:30:38Z")
That’s much more well-formed than I would naively have expected. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/35 "2016-01-09T22:46:52Z")
The tumor type is “Teratoma”. I think its more a case of the hosts immune system holding the explanation. The hosts immune system has learn to eat the teratoma away. If a woman seems to be going crazy lately, for no reason (No drugs or significant traumas /losses/etc) it may be this… her immune system, having targetted the teratoma’s neurons (nerves and brain ) … is also attacking her own brain… Well teeth aren’t going to be attacked by the immune system are they… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/36 "2016-01-09T22:49:15Z")
Assuming that’s real, it looks more like Foghorn Leghorn than an abortive mountain lion. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/37 "2016-01-09T23:52:46Z")
But hmm… but yes I guess there are more common teratoma materials due to histology. Teenage humans can grow new teeth, which means that at time, there are tooth formation germ cells floating around in the blood stream. Cells absolutely ready to grow as a tooth, if they stick in a place that they find nice … If they find their way into a tumour, they may decide to grow as a tooth there. ( What prevents tooth germ cells creating a million teeth in the teenage human ? ) Other common human teratoma are fingers and toes, skin and hair…(the mole ? ) Skin is grown in the late term of pregnancy, and that may be why skin and hair forms in teratoma often… the stem cells are ready for that. Its like you had a 1000 second count down clock for the launch of a mission space rocket… a mechanical device, say…50 years later, when you look at the clock, its still in the state of " zero seconds to Launch" ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/38 "2016-01-10T01:56:51Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Teenage humans can grow new teeth, No, they can’t. The teeth are there when they’re born, they just move into place when appropriate. Rather [terrifying picture of a child’s skull with some bone removed to show the teeth](https://troydavidjohnston.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/untitled-1/). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/39 "2016-01-10T02:43:15Z")
Cool pics. Thanks. It’s apparent the adult teeth are only partly formed at whatever stage those kids were in. But each adult tooth is in there as a hunk of tooth material in more or less the right basic shape. Those kids were late enough that they had pretty complete eruption of the milk teeth. So hardly infants. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561/40 "2016-01-11T23:57:21Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > On occasion I’ve seen disturbing photos of dissected tumors that have tiny teeth forming in them. > > All I know about cancer tumors is that the differentiation of the cell has gone haywire and is in overdrive. Are some “differential paths” (I’m sure there’s a correct word) more likely than others? Ie, why not other organs or sub-organs or any knd of possible anatomy from that cell type? Or they do occur, but cannot be seen as readily and dramatically as teeth? Lot of tumors that have spikes or sharp hooks. These types of tumors have higher death rate than other tumors with no spikes or sharp hooks. There not many tumors with teeth and most are non cancer tumor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-tumors-and-incipient-teeth/655561.md?page=3)