Adenoid cystic carcinoma is known to be a neoplasm of the major and minor salivary glands but it also occurs in the lacrimal gland, external auditory canal, easphagus, breast and skin. Adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary gland is a slow-growin nalignant tumor. Although metastasis of this tumor clevelnps in about half the cases, its meta taes to the overlying skin is not common, moreover the skin metastasis to the remote site is raely found. Primary cutaneous adenoid cystic carcinoma is rare and histologically indistingisl able from skin metastasis of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland. A 53 year-old man presented a solitary, well defined, erythen at us, 1.3 x 1.3cm sized nodule on the vertex of the scalp, which revealed the typical histopatholog ndings of adenoid cystic carcinoma. One and half years ago, a tumor of the parotid gland va removed and proved to be a cribriform pattern of adenoid cystic carcinoma. The skin lesion was diaghosed as a skin metastasis of the alenoid cystic carcinoma of parotid gland rather than a primary cutaneous adenoid cystic carcinona because a similar pattern of adenoid cystic carcinorom had been discovered on the parotidg an l although it developed on the scalp, the usual site of primary cutaneous adenoid cystic carcinama. (Kor J Dermatol 1995; 33 (2): 327-331)