Nick Cannon's baby son dies of cancer

Nick Cannon's five-month-old son has died of brain cancer.

During the opening of The Nick Cannon Show on Tuesday, the TV host announced that his son with model Alyssa Scott had passed away on Sunday night.

In an emotional speech, Nick explained that Zen had recently been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, or a build-up of fluid in the brain, as well as a malignant tumour.

"I always noticed he had a cough and so I wanted to check it out. He had this real interesting breathing and by the time he was two months old, I noticed he had this nice sized head too - I called it a Cannon head... We didn't think anything of it. But I really wanted to take him to the doctor for his sinus and breathing. We thought it would be a routine process," he recalled.

Sadly, Zen's condition took a turn for the worse around Thanksgiving last month, with doctors inserting a shunt to drain the fluid during surgery.

"Ultimately, it was cancer in the brain and the tumour began to grow a lot faster. And so, we knew that time was...," the 41-year-old continued, becoming visibly emotional. "This weekend, I made a valid effort to spend the most quality time I could spend with Zen. We woke up on Sunday - I got to spend the weekend with him - and I woke up on Sunday and was like, 'I feel like I want to go to the water.' We got a chance to go to the ocean."

The star went on to share that he held his son for "the last time" on Sunday.

And while he is very much in the grieving process, he was determined to show up for work this week.

"This is a beautiful show dedicated to my son," he added. "You never know what someone is going through. Hug your family. Kiss somebody. Tell them you love them."

Cannon also shares 10-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-wife Mariah Carey, four-year-old son Golden and 12-month-old daughter Powerful Queen with ex-girlfriend Brittany Bell, as well as five-month-old twins Zion and Zillion with Abby De La Rosa.