B7-H3 is an immune regulatory molecule whose aberrant expression in tumors is associated with adverse outcomes. Upregulation of B7-H3 may promote tumor cell proliferation and metastasis in vitro, but the role of B7-H3 in cervical cancer has not yet been investigated. We measured B7-H3 expression in 90 cervical cancer patient and 20 non‑cervical lesion patient tissues using immunohistochemistry and in 30 cervical cancer patient and 30 healthy donor blood samples using ELISA. The association of B7-H3 expression and the prognosis of cervical cancer patients was investigated. B7-H3 knockdown in CaSki and SiHa cell lines was performed using small hairpin (sh)RNA lentiviral transfection and B7-H3 overexpression in CaSki and HeLa cell lines was performed using plasmid-vector lentivirus transduction. Cell proliferation, invasion and migration were then measured using MTT and Transwell assays in vitro. B7-H3 expression was significantly higher in the cervical cancer tissues compared to that noted in the normal cervical tissues (mean 72.22 vs. 15.00%; p<0.001). Using Kaplan‑Meier and Cox analyses, our data revealed that patients with strong intensity staining were significantly more likely to have a worse prognosis. The B7-H3 level in cervical cancer patient blood was significantly higher than that in the normal donors (13.41±6.12 vs. 9.90±3.16 ng/ml; p=0.007). MTT assay revealed that high expression of B7-H3 promoted cervical cancer cell proliferation. Transwell assay data revealed that high expression of B7-H3 enhanced cervical cancer cell migration and invasion (CaSki, p=0.003; HeLa, p=0.03). In conclusion, expression of B7-H3 was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues compared to normal cervical tissues, and this high expression was associated with worse prognosis for cervical cancer patients. In addition, B7-H3 promoted proliferation, invasion and migration of cervical cancer and may be a potential target for treating cervical cancer.