For people immunosuppressed by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), we expect an increase in cancer incidence similar to that documented in transplant patients. We examined the cancer spectrum in an HIV-infected cohort, specifically malignancies not currently associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), in relation to the general population. Cancer incidence data for residents of Harris County, Texas, diagnosed between 1975 and 1994, were linked to HIV/AIDS registry data by Soundex code and date of birth to identify malignancies in an HIV-infected cohort of 14,986 persons. Incidence of cancer in this cohort was compared to the general population by standardized incidence ratio (SIR) analysis. From the HIV-infected cohort, 2289 persons (15%) were identified as having one or more malignancies, with 97% occurring in males. The linkage alone identified 29.5% of the malignancies, of which only 28.7% were diagnosed in males. Adjusting for age, HIV-infected men and women had incidences of cancer that were 16.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 16.1-17.3] and 2.9 (95% CI 2.3-3.7) times that expected for the general population of Harris County, Texas. Besides Kaposi's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cervix cancer and brain lymphoma, non-AIDS related malignancies of Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-melanotic skin cancer in males and colon cancer in females, exhibited significant SIRs of 5.6 (95% CI 3.6-8.4), 6.9 (95% CI 4.8-9.5) and 4.0 (95% CI 1.1-10.2). Increased incidences of lung, prostate and breast malignancies were not seen in this HIV cohort. Persons infected with HIV appear to be at increased risk for the non-AIDS related malignancies, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-melanotic skin cancer in males and colon cancer in females.