Ovarian Tumours
Ovarian tumours (a tumour is a swelling, not necessarily a Cancer) are rare in the young, but can occur in late adolescence as a result of endometriosis (where cells from the lining of the womb seed onto the ovarian surface, and then bleed to produce cysts full of altered blood), or arise from the germ cells. These produce tumours called teratomas which may contain lots of different cell types, including such things as teeth and hair (because germ cells, by definition, have the potential to turn into at any cell type in the body, since this is what the body comes from). Such cysts may be asymptomatic, and found incidentally during examination for a cervical smear, for example, or they may cause symptoms as a result of their size or because they twist or bleed, causing pain.
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