What is it, my family is being really secretive?
2007-03-01 07:14:17 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Other - Diseases
I'm a girl, I don't think I have testicular cancer!!
2007-03-01 07:26:30 · update #1
It's a form of testicular cancer
2007-03-01 07:20:46 · answer #1 · answered by dmbfan 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Teratomas are odd tumor-like growths that begin to form before birth. They are usually removed at birth if they are discovered. They are odd because they are more or less undeveloped embryonic tissues that may continue to grow randomly after birth. A teratoma is not a form of cancer, although the growth can be malignant - which means the teratoma can cause problems if it keeps growing in size, and the teratomas can change into cancer.. Since you are 15, the thing has been growing for 15 years, so it obviously has not been too much of a threat so far. The doctors will probably look for evidence of cancer-like growth, and decide whether its best to leave the the teratoma alone or remove the tissue - it probably depends on the location, evidence of spreading, and whether or not it is causing problems. The bad thing about teratomas is that the surrounding tissue has to be removed along with the growth, so this creates problems if the growth is in place where you don't want to remove any good tissue - such as the testicles.
2007-03-01 08:44:55 · answer #2 · answered by formerly_bob 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Teratoma- a tumor made up of different types of tissue.
2007-03-01 07:20:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋