Salivary gland cancer is a malignancy that arises in the head and neck area. It is not only rare but its clinical course is also very heterogeneous. A total of 22 different subtypes can be distinguished, the symptoms, treatment and prognosis of which may differ greatly. This means that both the diagnosis and treatment of the disease are prone to error. This is illustrated by two cases: a 62-year-old man with a salivary duct carcinoma, and a 56-year-old man with an adenoid cystic carcinoma. These cases are used to illustrate the advances that have been made in the treatment of salivary gland cancer.