The aim of the present study was to identify biomarkers in osteosarcoma (OS) cell serum by antibody microarray profiling, which may be used for OS diagnosis and therapy. An antibody microarray was used to detect the expression levels of cytokines in serum samples from 20 patients with OS and 20 healthy individuals. Significantly expressed cytokines in OS serum were selected when P<0.05 and fold change >2. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to validate the antibody microarray results. Finally, classification accuracy was calculated by cluster analysis. Twenty one cytokines were significantly upregulated in OS cell serum samples compared with control samples. Expression of interleukin-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, tumor growth factor-β, growth-related oncogene, hepatocyte growth factor, chemokine ligand 16, Endoglin, matrix metalloproteinase-9 and platelet-derived growth factor-AA was validated by ELISAs. OS serum samples and control samples were distinguished by significantly expressed cytokines with an accuracy of 95%. The results demonstrated that expressed cytokines identified by antibody microarray may be used as biomarkers for OS diagnosis and therapy.