Background: Salivary gland cancer (SGC) accounts for 3–5% of head and neck malignancies, and register-based studies estimate the familial proportion to be 0.15%.

Objective: We studied familial predisposition for SGC in the genetically distinct Finnish population.

Patients and methods: We sent a patient questionnaire to 161 Finnish SGC patients, 86 of whom responded.

Results: A total of 76% of the patients reported having one or more relatives with cancer, 30% two or more, and 9% three or more but only one patient reported having a relative with SGC. Tracing the birthplaces of the SGC patients’ grandparents showed no regional clustering suggestive of a founder effect.

Conclusions: Lack of familial SGC patients and the absence of a founder effect strongly suggest that familial predisposition for SGC is insignificant in the Finnish population. Various histological subtypes and the rarity of these neoplasms make it impossible to draw conclusions about site-specific association between SGC and other malignancies.