› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Melanoma on a 3 year old?
- This topic has 15 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 8 months ago by
Gene_S.
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- September 17, 2014 at 3:42 pm
Hello everyone.
I have a 3 year old girl and last year (2013) around October this weird pimple appeared on her chest. It looked nothing serious, we assumed it would dissapear eventually. Except it didn't, it began to grow , particularly upward, against the skin surface in a pointy sort of way.
We made an appointment with our local Cancer league to have it removed and have a biopsy test made on it.
The thing is the biopsy results don't come until two weeks and the doctor that removed the tumor said that upon looking at it he thinks it's melanoma.
But really? Melanoma on a 3 year old? Do you know if a case like this has indeed happened somewhere? I thought that melanomas appeared at 13 years old or more, not as early as 3 years old. Actually 2 years old since it appeared last year.
Please share any info you can, my wife and me are extremely worried and need to know more about this. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.
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- September 17, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Yes, unfortunately melanomas can occur in very young kiddos. There is a facebook group called For Parents of Children, 18 & Under. If you contact me, I can get you connected.
My son was 8 when diagnosed. Best advice is to get to a melanoma center that treats kids, such as MD Anderson. My son Asa was treated at St Jude's but they don't have any clinical trials for kids under 12 at the moment. However, they may still be a resource for you.
When we were first diagnosed, I found it frustrating how many people would say that it couldn't be melanoma because that rarely happens in kids. Get the pathology report and we can help you go from there.
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- September 17, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Thank you, i still don't have the pathology report but i'll make sure to post it here as soon as i get it. I hope to God the results come negative, but i still will post them here just to get a second opinion whatever the results. Thanks for your help and concern, i'll post again as soon as i have the results.
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- September 17, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Thank you, i still don't have the pathology report but i'll make sure to post it here as soon as i get it. I hope to God the results come negative, but i still will post them here just to get a second opinion whatever the results. Thanks for your help and concern, i'll post again as soon as i have the results.
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- September 17, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Thank you, i still don't have the pathology report but i'll make sure to post it here as soon as i get it. I hope to God the results come negative, but i still will post them here just to get a second opinion whatever the results. Thanks for your help and concern, i'll post again as soon as i have the results.
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- September 17, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Yes, unfortunately melanomas can occur in very young kiddos. There is a facebook group called For Parents of Children, 18 & Under. If you contact me, I can get you connected.
My son was 8 when diagnosed. Best advice is to get to a melanoma center that treats kids, such as MD Anderson. My son Asa was treated at St Jude's but they don't have any clinical trials for kids under 12 at the moment. However, they may still be a resource for you.
When we were first diagnosed, I found it frustrating how many people would say that it couldn't be melanoma because that rarely happens in kids. Get the pathology report and we can help you go from there.
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- September 17, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Yes, unfortunately melanomas can occur in very young kiddos. There is a facebook group called For Parents of Children, 18 & Under. If you contact me, I can get you connected.
My son was 8 when diagnosed. Best advice is to get to a melanoma center that treats kids, such as MD Anderson. My son Asa was treated at St Jude's but they don't have any clinical trials for kids under 12 at the moment. However, they may still be a resource for you.
When we were first diagnosed, I found it frustrating how many people would say that it couldn't be melanoma because that rarely happens in kids. Get the pathology report and we can help you go from there.
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- September 19, 2014 at 6:01 pm
Melanoma does occur in children, but very rarely. This is why about 40% of pediatric patients are misdiagnosed or diagnosed late. For these children the melanoma is driven by some kind of genetic mutation that is not caused by the sun. It may or may not be an inherited mutation; sometimes things just go wrong when cells grow and divide.
Pathology for pedicatric lesions is very challenging and in many cases the situation is not clear at all. When you talk with your doctor yoiu may want to mention that and ask about the confidence level of the path report. You might even ask if the tissue should be evaluated by a coupjle of different people.
Some pathologists have special training in reading skin tissue. They are called dermatopathologists, and this is the person you want reviewing this tissue. A general pathologist might be very good, but given the challenge of pediatric samples having a strong expert look the sample over is critical.
I hope you connect with the facebook group mentioned earlier. The MRF just held a meeting for families who have children with melanoma and about 100 people attended. If you have trouble connecting let me know and I can put you in touch with appropriate people.
Tim–MRF
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- September 19, 2014 at 6:01 pm
Melanoma does occur in children, but very rarely. This is why about 40% of pediatric patients are misdiagnosed or diagnosed late. For these children the melanoma is driven by some kind of genetic mutation that is not caused by the sun. It may or may not be an inherited mutation; sometimes things just go wrong when cells grow and divide.
Pathology for pedicatric lesions is very challenging and in many cases the situation is not clear at all. When you talk with your doctor yoiu may want to mention that and ask about the confidence level of the path report. You might even ask if the tissue should be evaluated by a coupjle of different people.
Some pathologists have special training in reading skin tissue. They are called dermatopathologists, and this is the person you want reviewing this tissue. A general pathologist might be very good, but given the challenge of pediatric samples having a strong expert look the sample over is critical.
I hope you connect with the facebook group mentioned earlier. The MRF just held a meeting for families who have children with melanoma and about 100 people attended. If you have trouble connecting let me know and I can put you in touch with appropriate people.
Tim–MRF
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- September 19, 2014 at 6:01 pm
Melanoma does occur in children, but very rarely. This is why about 40% of pediatric patients are misdiagnosed or diagnosed late. For these children the melanoma is driven by some kind of genetic mutation that is not caused by the sun. It may or may not be an inherited mutation; sometimes things just go wrong when cells grow and divide.
Pathology for pedicatric lesions is very challenging and in many cases the situation is not clear at all. When you talk with your doctor yoiu may want to mention that and ask about the confidence level of the path report. You might even ask if the tissue should be evaluated by a coupjle of different people.
Some pathologists have special training in reading skin tissue. They are called dermatopathologists, and this is the person you want reviewing this tissue. A general pathologist might be very good, but given the challenge of pediatric samples having a strong expert look the sample over is critical.
I hope you connect with the facebook group mentioned earlier. The MRF just held a meeting for families who have children with melanoma and about 100 people attended. If you have trouble connecting let me know and I can put you in touch with appropriate people.
Tim–MRF
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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