malika

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.

http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=3d517e1dc7b8f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD&vgnextchannel=ef42b0cf6626f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD

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.

http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=3d517e1dc7b8f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD&vgnextchannel=ef42b0cf6626f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD

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.

http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=3d517e1dc7b8f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD&vgnextchannel=ef42b0cf6626f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD

Hi

We have been in your shoes!  A mole (nevus) appeared on our then 7-year old's shin.  It is a long process to get to a diagnosis.  Our pathologist sent my son's slides to be analyzed with a Florescence in-situ hybridization (FISH)  test, because it was so hard to distinguish between a spitz nevus and a melanoma.  We, too, found it hard to locate any experts.

Here are some statistics to help put the chance of melanoma in a kid in perspective.  According to St Jude's Children's Research Hospital, there are fewer than 70 cases of melanoma in kids under 10 in the US annually, and fewer than ten kids diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease. (My black-Filipino son was one of those kids, putting his likelihood very low – there is about 1 non-white child under 10 years old in the US diagnosed each year).

The St Jude Promise Magazine has an article on pediatric melanoma in its summer issue, and is available here http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=a411b0cf6626f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD

My advice is to keep pushing for more information and keep asking questions until you are satisfied with an answer.  And, keep bring your son to the dermatologist even after all this is behind you.  I figure my son Asa will be going to the derm every three months for years to come!!

Best of luck

"Malika"

Hi

We have been in your shoes!  A mole (nevus) appeared on our then 7-year old's shin.  It is a long process to get to a diagnosis.  Our pathologist sent my son's slides to be analyzed with a Florescence in-situ hybridization (FISH)  test, because it was so hard to distinguish between a spitz nevus and a melanoma.  We, too, found it hard to locate any experts.

Here are some statistics to help put the chance of melanoma in a kid in perspective.  According to St Jude's Children's Research Hospital, there are fewer than 70 cases of melanoma in kids under 10 in the US annually, and fewer than ten kids diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease. (My black-Filipino son was one of those kids, putting his likelihood very low – there is about 1 non-white child under 10 years old in the US diagnosed each year).

The St Jude Promise Magazine has an article on pediatric melanoma in its summer issue, and is available here http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=a411b0cf6626f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD

My advice is to keep pushing for more information and keep asking questions until you are satisfied with an answer.  And, keep bring your son to the dermatologist even after all this is behind you.  I figure my son Asa will be going to the derm every three months for years to come!!

Best of luck

"Malika"

Hi

We have been in your shoes!  A mole (nevus) appeared on our then 7-year old's shin.  It is a long process to get to a diagnosis.  Our pathologist sent my son's slides to be analyzed with a Florescence in-situ hybridization (FISH)  test, because it was so hard to distinguish between a spitz nevus and a melanoma.  We, too, found it hard to locate any experts.

Here are some statistics to help put the chance of melanoma in a kid in perspective.  According to St Jude's Children's Research Hospital, there are fewer than 70 cases of melanoma in kids under 10 in the US annually, and fewer than ten kids diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease. (My black-Filipino son was one of those kids, putting his likelihood very low – there is about 1 non-white child under 10 years old in the US diagnosed each year).

The St Jude Promise Magazine has an article on pediatric melanoma in its summer issue, and is available here http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=a411b0cf6626f310VgnVCM100000290115acRCRD

My advice is to keep pushing for more information and keep asking questions until you are satisfied with an answer.  And, keep bring your son to the dermatologist even after all this is behind you.  I figure my son Asa will be going to the derm every three months for years to come!!

Best of luck

"Malika"

If the biopsy does come back as melanoma, post back here.  There are several of us whose children have melanoma; my son was 8 when he was diagnosed (stage 3B).  At 11 years old now, he is doing great.

If the biopsy does come back as melanoma, post back here.  There are several of us whose children have melanoma; my son was 8 when he was diagnosed (stage 3B).  At 11 years old now, he is doing great.

If the biopsy does come back as melanoma, post back here.  There are several of us whose children have melanoma; my son was 8 when he was diagnosed (stage 3B).  At 11 years old now, he is doing great.

As I understand it from my breast surgeon, similar genetic factors link melanoma, breast cancer and three others that I can not now remember.

As I understand it from my breast surgeon, similar genetic factors link melanoma, breast cancer and three others that I can not now remember.

As I understand it from my breast surgeon, similar genetic factors link melanoma, breast cancer and three others that I can not now remember.

My son was 8 when diagnosed – his mitosis rate was 13, the tumor was nodular and ulcerated, and melanoma was found in the lymph nodes –> Stage 3B.  There are even fewer treatments available for kids than for adults and interferon was the only treatment available for kiddos under 10.  We chose to do interferon and went to five hospitals until we found St Jude’s where my son could be treated.  Another thing to keep in mind is that microscopic melanoma doesn’t appear on scans.  My son had clear PET/CT scans the week before additional melanoma was found in his lymph nodes.  While not everyone agrees with CLND and interferon, we wanted to be aggressive and interferon felt better than "watch and wait" for us; at 10 years old, my son is still NED.  

My son was 8 when diagnosed – his mitosis rate was 13, the tumor was nodular and ulcerated, and melanoma was found in the lymph nodes –> Stage 3B.  There are even fewer treatments available for kids than for adults and interferon was the only treatment available for kiddos under 10.  We chose to do interferon and went to five hospitals until we found St Jude’s where my son could be treated.  Another thing to keep in mind is that microscopic melanoma doesn’t appear on scans.  My son had clear PET/CT scans the week before additional melanoma was found in his lymph nodes.  While not everyone agrees with CLND and interferon, we wanted to be aggressive and interferon felt better than "watch and wait" for us; at 10 years old, my son is still NED.  

My son was 8 when diagnosed – his mitosis rate was 13, the tumor was nodular and ulcerated, and melanoma was found in the lymph nodes –> Stage 3B.  There are even fewer treatments available for kids than for adults and interferon was the only treatment available for kiddos under 10.  We chose to do interferon and went to five hospitals until we found St Jude’s where my son could be treated.  Another thing to keep in mind is that microscopic melanoma doesn’t appear on scans.  My son had clear PET/CT scans the week before additional melanoma was found in his lymph nodes.  While not everyone agrees with CLND and interferon, we wanted to be aggressive and interferon felt better than "watch and wait" for us; at 10 years old, my son is still NED.