Abstract: Objective To analyze the role of circulating tumor cells (CTC) combined with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the diagnosis of stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ colorectal cancer, and to provide reference for clinical treatment of patients with stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ colorectal cancer. Methods A total of 86 patients with colorectal disease were divided into observation group (stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ colorectal cancer, n=86) and control group (benign colorectal disease, n=35) who were diagnosed by pathological diagnosis in our hospital were selected from April, 2017 to September, 2017 as observation group, and 35 patients with health examination and colorectal benign in the same period were selected as control group. The level of CTC and CEA were examined. The relationship between CTC count and its clinical data was analyzed, and the diagnostic value of CEA detection, CTC detection and CEA combined with CTC detection in stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ colorectal cancer were compared. Results There were significant differences in CTC counts among patients with different CEA levels (P<0.05). The positive rate of CEA detection was 47.67% (41/86). The positive rate of CTC detection was 72.09% (62/86). The positive rate of CTC combined with CEA was 90.70% (78/86). The consistency test results showed that the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and consistency of CTC combined with CEA detection were significantly higher than those of CEA and CTC detection. Conclusion The CTC combined with CEA has high application value in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer in stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ, which is worthy of clinical promotion.