Doctors said Allia had an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, a rare, fast-growing cancer of the brain and the spinal cord.
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In 2000, his Teratoid Heights comic was published by Highwater Books. Through his anonymous and pseudonymous works, he, like Bruce Conner and Marcel Duchamp before him, seems to be concerned with issues of artistic credit and its relation to artistic output. His musical performances have incorporated aspects of circuit bending and drum and bass.
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Diktyoma is classified into teratoid and nonteratoid types, based on heteroplastic tissue in the former. Each type may be sub- classified as benign or malignant based on histology. Based on histology, the tumor is classified as malignant if it contains poorly differentiated neuroblasts, nuclear pleomorphism, markedly abnormal mitotic activity, sarcomatous components, or invasion into the uvea, cornea, or sclera. Most diktyomas are malignant.
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CT is excellent for demonstrating dystrophic calcifications in the teratoid type. On MRI, dityomas typically appear slightly to moderately hyperdense to vitreous on T1-weighted images and hypodense on T2-weighted images, with marked homogeneous enhancement (except for prominent parts of cystic components, which, if present, may impart heterogeneity) after administration of intravenous contrast material. MRI is excellent for detection of tumors as small as 2 millimeters.
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Imaging studies such as ultrasonography (US), Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) may aid diagnosis. On ultrasound, diktyomas typically appear as echogenic, irregularly shaped to ovoid masses. Ultrasound is excellent for demonstrating cystic collections of vitreous fluid in the tumor, and may show calcifications in the teratoid type. On CT, dityomas typically appear as dense, irregular masses in the ciliary body, which enhances with administration of intravenous contrast material.
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Proliferating tumor cells of diktyoma maintain the same polarity, arranged in cords and sheets folding back upon themselves. Depending on the direction of the folding, some folds surround fluid collection, while others do not. These fluid-filled spaces correspond to the grossly observed small cysts, which are mainly composed of vitreous humor. About 30-50 percent of diktyomas contain heteroplastic elements, and thus belong to the teratoid subtype.
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The most common brain tumor types in children (0-14) are: pilocytic astrocytoma, malignant glioma, medulloblastoma, neuronal and mixed neuronal- glial tumors, and ependymoma. In children under 2, about 70% of brain tumors are medulloblastomas, ependymomas, and low-grade gliomas. Less commonly, and seen usually in infants, are teratomas and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors. Germ cell tumors, including teratomas, make up just 3% of pediatric primary brain tumors, but the worldwide incidence varies significantly.
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A central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumor, often abbreviated as PNET, supratentorial PNET, or CNS-PNET, is one of the 3 types of embryonal central nervous system tumors defined by the World Health Organization (medulloblastoma, atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, and PNET). It is considered an embryonal tumor because it arises from cells partially differentiated or still undifferentiated from birth. Those cells are usually neuroepithelial cells, stem cells destined to turn into glia or neurons. It can occur anywhere within the spinal cord and cerebrum and can have multiple sites of origins, with a high probability of metastasis through cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
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