Fifty-nine cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) in the head and neck were reviewed and the treatment and follow-up results from 1950 to 1983 are reported. Nearly all patients were treated with combined therapy, i.e. surgery and radiotherapy, and the actuarial survival rate was 68% after 5 years, 45% after 10 years, and 30% after 15 years. Modern radiotherapy seems a very valuable means of treatment, not only as a palliative measure.