Background Adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer is mainly based on the combination of 5-fluorouracil, folinic acid and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX-4). The pharmacological target of oxaliplatin remains intracellular and therefore dependent on its entry into cells. The intracellular distribution of oxaliplatin is mediated by organic cation transporters 1, 2 and 3 (OCT1, 2 and 3), copper transporter 1 (CTR1) and ATPase Cu2+ transporting beta polypeptide (ATP7B) and may modulate the efficacy of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to perform a retrospective study to assess the relation between the expression of oxaliplatin transporters in colorectal cancer before chemotherapy and the response to FOLFOX-4 adjuvant chemotherapy in responder and non-responder patients. Methods This retrospective study was conducted at a single center (University Hospital of ClermontFerrand, France). The target population was patients with resectable colorectal cancer operated between 2006 and 2013. Inclusion criteria were defined for the responder patients as no cancer recurrence 3 years after the end of chemotherapy, and for the non-responder patients as cancer recurrence within 1 year. Other inclusion criteria were stages IIb-IV cancers, first-line adjuvant FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy, and the availability of resected primary tumor samples. Exclusion criteria were preoperative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, a targeted therapy, other anticancer drugs, cancer recurrence between the first and the third year after the end of chemotherapy and follow-up < 3 years. Immunostaining of oxaliplatin transporters (OCT1, 2, 3, CTR1 and ATP7B) and Ki-67 was assessed in tumor samples. Results Retrospectively, 31 patients have been selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria (15 responders and 16 non-responders). Before FOLFOX-4 regimen, OCT3 expression was significantly lower in responder patients compared to non-responders (p<0.001). According to multivariate analysis, OCT3 remains an independent criterion for adjuvant FOLFOX chemotherapy response (p = 0.039). No significant relation is reported between chemotherapy response and the expression of OCT1 (p = 0.49), OCT2 (p = 0.09), CTR1 (p = 0.45), ATP7B (p = 0.94) and Ki-67 (p = 0.34) in tumors. Conclusions High expression of OCT3 could be an independent factor related to resistance to FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy.