Abstract: Objective：To explore the risk factors of metastasis in stage Ⅰ～Ⅲ colorectal cancer following radical surgery. Methods：288 stage Ⅰ～Ⅲ colorectal cancer cases from March 2003 to June 2009 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinicopathological data including sex, age, tumour location, tumour size, depth of invasion, differentiation, preoperative albumin, preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen, preoperative hemoglobin, lymph node metastasis were collected. The association between the clinicopathological factors and the rate of metastasis following radical surgery was analyzed. The independent risk factors of metastasis were analyzed. Results：The rate of postoperative metastasis was higher in preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen≥10 μg/L group than in preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen < 10 μg/L group, and that was higher in positive lymph node metastasis group than in negative lymph node metastasis group（P﹤0.01）. Positive lymph node metastasis（hazard ratio 2.37，95%CI 1.19～4.72，P﹤0.01）, preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen≥10 μg/L（hazard ratio 3.34，95% CI 1.69～6.62，P﹤0.01） were independent risk factors for metastasis in stage Ⅰ～Ⅲ colorectal cancer following radical surgery. Conclusion：Colorectal cancer cases with positive lymph node metastasis, preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen≥10 μg/L should undergo careful and active postoperative follow-up and re-examination.