Age-specific and cumulative incidence rates calculated using data from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry indicate that more men than women with polycystic kidney disease enter end-stage renal failure programs between the ages of 25 and 44 years and 65 to 74 years. As this autosomal dominant inherited condition is equally likely to occur in the two sexes, gender-related factors appear to modulate the susceptibility to renal failure in persons with polycystic kidney disease.