Summary

Renal cell carcinoma is historically known as the ‘great masquerader’ with 40% of patients experiencing a paraneoplastic syndrome. Translocation carcinoma represents one-third of renal cancer in paediatric patients but less than 3% of renal cancers in patients aged 18–45 years where the clinical course is often rapidly terminal. There are less than 10 reported cases of leucoclastic vasculitis associated with clear cell carcinoma reported in the literature and 10 case reports of translocation carcinoma in adults. To our knowledge, we present the first reported case of Xp11 translocation carcinoma presenting as cutaneous vasculitis, as part of a paraneoplastic syndrome, in an adult patient. Our case highlights that renal cell cancers are truly the ‘great masquerader’ and a rash can be the first sign of renal malignancy.