Objective To understand the current research status of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy in colorectal cancer. Methods Literatures about the application of SLN biopsy in the field of colorectal surgery were collected and reviewed. Results The results of SLNs biopsy accurately reflected the status of the nodal basin. Focused examination of the SLNs could identify micrometastases that might otherwise had been missed by standard histopathological analysis, thus upstaged this group of patients. Conclusion SLN biopsy represents a new and effective technique to predict the tumor status of regional lymph nodes, which offers a potential alternative to improve the accuracy of tumor staging in colorectal cancer.