Background: Cell growth factors play important roles in the biological behavior of salivary gland tumors.Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is one cell growth factor that is attracting a great deal of attention as a multifunctional cytokine that not only induces hepatocyte growth, but also displays a wide variety of functions in various epithelial and endothelial cells. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of HGF in benign salivary gland tumors compared to the malignant ones, and to correlate its expression with the histological features of these neoplasms.