Objective: To evaluate the protein expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8) in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) and to analyse its correlation with the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis. Methods: A total of 43 cases of SACC and eight of normal salivary tissues were examined for the expression of IL-8 using immunohistochemistry, and the relationship of IL-8 expression with patients' clinicopathologic features was analysed. Results: While the positive staining rate of IL-8 expression in SACC was 79.1% (34/43), the normal salivary tissues showed negative staining of IL-8 (0/8). IL-8 expression in SACC was positively related to distant metastasis of SACC (P 0.05), but not related to the gender, age, tumour location, and pathological types. Conclusion: The overexpression of IL-8 in SACC might be involved in metastasis of SACC. The potential mechanism underlying IL-8 expression related to the prognosis and treatment of SACC needs further research. Keywords: salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, interleukin-8, metastasis, prognosis