To evaluate survival for AIDS patients diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), we calculated survival for 1,015 patients reported in San Francisco between July 1981 and December 31, 1987, representing 22% of total patients reported. These patients had a definitive initial diagnosis of KS, and developed no other diseases within 3 months of diagnosis. Patients were followed prospectively through December 31, 1988. All patients evaluated in this study were men. Survival was evaluated for subgroups based on age, race and ethnicity, year of diagnosis, and transmission category. The median survival for patients diagnosed with KS alone was 17.0 months, with a 5-year survival rate of 8.7%. Poorer prognosis was found for patients with older age at diagnosis and with later year of diagnosis. Proportional hazards analysis indicated that age (p less than 0.001) and year of diagnosis (p less than 0.05) were significant independent predictors of survival, while race or ethnicity and risk group were not.