In conclusion, we demonstrated in this study that ICAM-1, which is induced through pSTAT3 activation under hypoxic conditions, promotes glioma cell invasion and tumor progression; knocking down ICAM-1 expression inhibited tumor growth in and prolonged the overall survival of glioma-bearing mice; and knocking down ICAM-1 resulted in less macrophage infiltration and a reduction in tumor invasion. Here, ICAM1 is linked to central nervous system cancer.