title: Teratomas in childhood.
abstract: Of 107 teratomas in children, 86 were benign and 21 malignant. Sacrococcygeal and pelvic teratomas predominated (51 cases) and these fell into 3 groups: post sacral, dumb-bell and presacral. The 34 purely posterior tumours were always congenital and benign, whilst the incidence of malignancy in dumb-bell and presacral teratomas increased as the tumour became more internal. Malignant teratomas were carcinomas, usually containing glandular, papillary and clear-cell areas, and metastases were similar. Immature tissues in benign teratomas were usually neural or connective tissue. They did not give rise to neuroblastomas or sarcomas, and did not indicate a worse prognosis. Only 2 originally benign teratomas later developed malignancy.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008175:Lung Neoplasms; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D010496:Pericardium / Q000473:pathology; D012186:Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D012445:Sacrococcygeal Region / Q000473:pathology; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013724:Teratoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology