Systemic Sclerosis Presenting as a Paraneoplastic Syndrome in Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Rare Case Report

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology characterized by vasculopathy and organ fibrosis. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is associated with paraneoplastic syndromes. RCC has been reported in association with paraneoplastic SSc, and eight cases have been reported since 1992 to date. In this case, we present a patient with SSc who showed rapid systemic progression within a period of 6 months. A mass was detected in the left kidney on imaging two months after the diagnosis of SSc, and the patient underwent a left partial nephrectomy. The histopathology of the mass was consistent with RCC. Despite intensive treatment, the patient developed progressive SSc involvement in the skin, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract within 6 months after the diagnosis of SSc. This case report emphasizes that SSc, which progresses with rapid and widespread systemic organ involvement, can occur as a paraneoplastic syndrome and that there should be a high suspicion for underlying malignant diseases in such cases.