Survival statistics of 163 cadaver and 60 live related donor renal transplants from a single center were analyzed. Survival rates at 1, 2 and 3 yr for 38 first cadaver transplants matched for a haplotype and 34 first life related donor haplotype matched kidneys were virtually the same. In addition, 9, four-antigen matched cadaver transplants had a comparable survival rate at 1, 2 and 3 yr to the larger group of 25 HL-A identical live related donor kidneys. When poor risk cadaver recipients were excluded from the entire cadaver group, the graft survival rate approached that of the live related group at 1 yr but declined more rapidly at 2 and 3 yr than did the live related donor group. Cadaver renal transplantation in this series appears to be an alternative to comparably matched live related donor transplants.