Nick Cannon mourns loss of his youngest child to a brain tumour

Actor Nick Cannon pauses, during a press conference for the film 'Chi-Raq", at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Television host and actor Nick Cannon shared with his talk show audience on Tuesday that his youngest child, Zen, has died.

"Over the weekend I lost my youngest son to a condition called hydrocephalus that was pretty much a malignant, invasive midline brain tumour, brain cancer," an emotional Cannon said. "It's tough."

The five-month-old infant was Cannon's child with model Alyssa Scott. He has six other children from other relationships.

"Hydrocephalus is the buildup of fluid in the cavities (ventricles) deep within the brain. The excess fluid increases the size of the ventricles and puts pressure on the brain," according to the Mayo Clinic.

Cannon shared that he spent this past weekend with his son in California and said "not only did we get to see the sun rise, we got to see the sun set."

"I didn't know how I was going to handle today," Cannon told his audience. "But I wanted to grieve with my family."

Cannon also brought therapist and TV host Dr. Laura Berman on to discuss the grief of losing a child.

Berman announced in February that her son Samuel died of an accidental drug overdose at age 16.