Background: Colorectal cancer is considered to be an environmental disease. In this context, the study of environmental risk factors associated with the presence of chemical elements is important, as well as improving our knowledge of the elemental fingerprint of tumor tissue compared to non-cancer tissue. Aims: The objective was to evaluate the element distribution in colorectal adenocarcinoma biopsies, adjacent non-tumor tissues, and healthy controls (non-cancer colorectal biopsies including occlusion or ischemic colons). Methods: The study is a case-control study which compared the element distribution in colon biopsies from two groups of patients: with colorectal cancer and without colorectal cancer. Patients with colorectal cancer provided 2 different groups of samples: colorectal cancer biopsies and adjacent non-tumor tissues. 15 metal concentrations (Al, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Si, Ti, V, and Zn) in colorectal biopsies were quantified by using acid digestion procedures and then inductively coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectrometry. Results: A total of 104 patients were included. 76 patients in the colorectal cancer group (i.e. tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues) and 28 patients in the healthy control group (i.e. noncancer colorectal biopsies). Among the 15 elements analyzed by ICP spectrometry, only boron, chromium, zinc, silicon, and magnesium were found in colorectal tissue at clearly detectable concentrations. Our data indicated that colorectal tumor biopsies have significantly elevated concentrations of magnesium as compared to adjacent non-tumor or healthy tissues. Zinc concentration followed the same trend but differences were not statistically significant. In addition, silicon appears to be more accumulated in colorectal cancer tissue than in healthy non-cancer tissue, while chromium was mostly found in adjacent non-tumor tissue. Conclusion: Magnesium, chromium, zinc and silicon were found in noteworthy concentrations in colorectal tumor. Their potential role in colorectal carcinogenesis should be explored.