Objective To detect the expression of microRNA-22-3p (miR-22-3p) in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, explore its clinical significance and pay attention to its relationship with vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and microlymphatic vessel density (MLVD). Methods 61 patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary gland were selected as the study subjects. Tumor tissue (observation group) and normal salivary gland tissue (control group) were retained. Expression of miR-22-3p were detected by realtime fluorescence quantitative PCR in the two groups. VEGF-C and D2-40 were detected by immunohistochemical method in the observation group. VEGF-C weredetected by Western Blot method in the observation group. Results The expression of miR-22-3p was significantly lower in the observation group than that in the control group. The expression of miR-22-3p was significantly different in tumor diameter, vascular and lymphatic vessel involvement, metastasis, lymph node metastasisand TNM stage, but there was not significantly different in gender, age and nerve involvement in the observation group. Survival analysis showed thapatients of lower expression of miR-22-3p had shorter survival time. Negative correlation were found between miR-22-3p and VEGF-C, miR-22-3p and MLVD. Conclusion The expression of miR-22-3p is low in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, which is related to the progression. The low expression of miR-22-3p may be related to lymphangiogenesis. MiR-22-3pmay be an independent prognostic factor for salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.