MAGE-1 Vaccinia Contaminated with BVDV

**Semantic type:** Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** A cancer vaccine consisting of a recombinant vaccinia virus encoding the tumor-associated gene MAGE-1 that is contaminated with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). The MAGE-1 gene is a member of the melanoma antigen-encoding gene family which is expressed in various malignant tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma and germ cell tumors in addition to melanoma. Vaccination with vaccinia virus expressing human MAGE-1 may generate antitumoral T-cell responses. BVDV is an RNA pestivirus that may contaminate vaccines due to its presence in the fetal calf serum used as a growth supplement in the tissue culture of mammalian cells used in vaccine production. (NCI04)