AIM: To find new potential biomarkers and to establish patterns for early detection of colorectal cancer. METHODS: One hundred and eighty-two serum samples including 55 from colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, 35 from colorectal adenoma (CRA) patients and 92 from healthy persons (HP) were detected by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SELDI-MS). The data of spectra were analyzed by bioinformatics tools like artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM). RESULTS: The diagnostic pattern combined with 7 potential biomarkers could differentiate CRC patients from CRA patients with a specificity of 83%, sensitivity of 89% and positive predictive value of 89%. The diagnostic pattern combined with 4 potential biomarkers could differentiate CRC patients from HP with a specificity of 92%, sensitivity of 89% and positive predictive value of 86%. CONCLUSION: The combination of SELDI with bioinformatics tools could help find new biomarkers and establish patterns with high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of CRC.