Today's Malady: the tumor that can enter the kingdom of heaven

Warning: some images are graphic.

This is an example of a teratoma.

What's so interesting about teratomata?

1. This anecdote cites that the author recalled that up until recently, the Roman Catholic Church required that teratomas be baptized... "just in case" the tumor was a product of conceptus, and not a tumor.

2. It may have a few things to teach us about stem cells.

Some images of teratomata (not for the queasy):

These, from Atlas of Pathology.
This specimen, from Eccles Health Sciences Library, shows what is, to me, the most interesting thing about teratomata - that they may consist of a variety of different tissues, including skin, sebum, hair, and they may even have...

...teeth, as evidenced by this image which is brought to us by Dr. T, who posts Imaging Case of the Week.