When you have kidney cancer, your skin can sometimes reflect what’s happening inside your body. In fact, about 3 percent of people with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer, develop cancer that spreads and causes skin-related problems.

Sometimes skin symptoms are directly related to the cancer, and other times they’re a side effect of your treatment plan. Regardless of the cause behind the changes to your skin — the treatment or the cancer itself — it’s important to know what to expect.

After all, some skin changes can be severe, painful, and disrupt your quality of life. Others can be a warning sign of a significant infection or allergic reaction that needs immediate medical attention. Here’s what you need to know about how kidney cancer affects your skin and what to watch for.

🗳️ Have you noticed skin changes related to kidney cancer or its treatment?

Yes, and they’ve had a big impact on me.

Yes, but they’ve only had a small impact.

No, I haven’t noticed skin changes.

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How Does Kidney Cancer Affect the Skin?

When it comes to kidney cancer and skin changes, researchers are just beginning to uncover the connection between the two and why your skin may be impacted when you have this kind of cancer.

Some researchers speculate that your skin undergoes changes because of what’s happening inside your body. This includes:

• Fluctuations in your metabolism
• Rapid cell growth
• Your cells responding to stress
• Your immune system weakening with the disease or with the treatment

These factors could influence your skin and lead to symptoms.

Skin-related symptoms may appear at the same time as your cancer, or they may be there before your cancer is diagnosed. Skin changes can also go away when the tumor is removed or may come back if the kidney cancer returns or spreads.

Even your cancer treatment can affect your skin, sometimes resulting in allergic reactions or painful lesions.

What Rashes and Skin Changes Are Seen in Kidney Cancer?

It’s important to understand how this disease can impact your skin so that you can let your healthcare team know about any new lesions or rashes.

Here are the most common ways that kidney cancer affects your skin.

Paraneoplastic Syndrome

About 40 percent of people with RCC will develop paraneoplastic syndrome. This is a disorder that can occur alongside cancer and cause changes in your skin and other rare symptoms.

When your immune system detects a tumor in your body, it tries to destroy it by releasing antibodies. These antibodies can also damage healthy cells and cause symptoms. This is what causes paraneoplastic syndrome.

Paraneoplastic syndrome can cause different symptoms throughout your body. It commonly causes weight loss, fever, decreased appetite, and sweating at night.

As for skin symptoms, it can cause:

• Noncancerous skin growths
• Itchy skin
• Flushing
• Darker skin
• Thickened skin (especially in the palms)

Acanthosis Nigricans

Acanthosis nigricans is a skin condition that’s been associated with RCC, though it’s rare.

This condition causes your skin to become darker, thicker, and slightly raised with a velvety texture. Typically, it spreads quickly and can even be found inside the mouth.

Seborrheic Keratoses

Seborrheic keratoses are common, harmless skin growths that can occur in many people, with or without cancer. These growths may appear on the face, shoulder, back, or chest, and they may be:

• Round or ovular in shape
• Flat or raised with scales
• Up to 1 inch in size
• One single growth or multiple growths

For people with kidney cancer, multiple seborrheic keratoses that appear quickly and suddenly could be a paraneoplastic syndrome symptom called Leser-Trélat sign.

The Leser-Trélat sign has sometimes been seen in kidney conditions, such as RCC and chronic kidney disease. It’s a skin problem linked to cancer that causes many seborrheic keratoses to appear suddenly. These growths may happen because a group of skin cells multiplies quickly in one area.

Vasculitis

Vasculitis is a disease that causes inflammation in the blood vessels. Of the different types of vasculitis, leukocytoclastic vasculitis is the most common in advanced kidney cancer.

This condition primarily affects the skin on the arms and legs. It can cause blood vessels to leak underneath the skin, causing small purple, red, or brown spots.

Certain cancer treatments, like immune checkpoint inhibitors, can cause this skin condition.

Hand-Foot Syndrome

Palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia, also called hand-foot syndrome, can be a side effect of targeted drug therapy or chemotherapy. Targeted drug therapy is more commonly used in the treatment of RCC, but chemotherapy may be used for some people.

Hand-foot syndrome is a skin reaction that causes the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet to swell and change color. People with lighter skin may notice redness, while people with darker skin may notice dark patches.

When this syndrome progresses, you may also notice that your skin feels tight and painful, sometimes to the point of interfering with your everyday activities, such as having difficulty walking or gripping objects.

Medication Side Effects

Sometimes skin changes occur as a side effect of cancer treatment. For instance, both immunotherapy and targeted drug therapy — two common kidney cancer treatment options — can cause:

• Dry skin
• Nail problems
• Severe rashes that may blister

Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are less commonly used to treat kidney cancer, but they can cause skin symptoms, too.

Skin symptoms associated with radiation include:

• Dryness
• Peeling
• Itchiness
• Puffiness
• Swelling
• Changes in color

These symptoms occur in the area being treated. Painful sores can also develop, which can become wet and infected.

Chemotherapy can cause similar reactions. It can also make your skin extra sensitive to sunlight.

Can Kidney Cancer Spread to the Skin?

Kidney cancer typically metastasizes (spreads) to the lungs, liver, bones, lymph nodes, adrenal glands, or the other kidney, if it spreads at all. However, in rare cases, it can spread to the skin. This is seen in roughly 3 percent to 7 percent of people who’ve had RCC.

If kidney cancer spreads to the skin, lesions are likely to appear on the face and scalp anywhere from six months to five years after diagnosis. However, it can spread at any time — even prior to diagnosis.

The lesions are often fast growing and round or ovular in shape. They can also vary in color from your normal skin tone to a red-purple color. Sometimes, these abnormalities can be confused with:

• Birthmarks
• Basal cell carcinoma (a common skin cancer)
• Pyogenic granulomas (overgrowth of blood vessels)

Typically, skin metastasis is treated by surgically removing the lesions. However, radiation may be used when surgery isn’t an option.

Join the Conversation

On MyKidneyCancerTeam, people share their experiences with kidney cancer, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

If you have kidney cancer, what types of skin changes have you noticed, and what have you done to cope? Let others know in the comments below.