Immunohistochemical localization of type IV collagen and laminin in normal salivary glands and in salivary gland tumours of various types was studied using rabbit antisera. In normal salivary glands, type IV collagen and laminin were co-localized in basement membranes surrounding acini, ducts, fat cells and peripheral nerves. In salivary gland tumours, three main patterns of co-expression of these basement membrane proteins were distinguished. Linear basement membrane-like staining was detected in duct-cell-derived benign salivary gland tumours and in acinic cell carcinomas. In invasive lesions, however, these basement membrane proteins were distributed in an irregular, interrupted manner, and in many cases they were completely absent. Both benign and malignant salivary gland tumours which have a prominent myoepithelial cell component display a particular deposition of basement membrane molecules adjacent to the modified myoepithelial cells, and at the margins of extracellular matrix deposits within these tumours.