Lesions of salivary glands with a prominent lymphoid component are a heterogeneous group of diseases that include benign reactive lesions and malignant neoplasms. Occasionally, these pathologic entities present difficulties in the clinical and pathological diagnosis and prognosis. Lymphoepithelial sialadenitis, HIV-associated salivary gland disease, chronic sclerosing sialadenitis, Warthin tumor, and extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma are examples of this pathology that are sometimes problematic to differentiate from one another. In this paper the author reviewed the main clinical, pathological and prognostic features of these lesions.