Inactivated Vaccinia Virus

**Semantic type:** Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** A poxvirus made non-infectious by ultraviolet light or other inactivation methods in order to reduce its pathogenicity. In cancer gene therapy, inactivated vaccinia virus may be used as a vector to express a protein that kills tumor cells or elicits specific anti-tumor immunity. In a cancer vaccine application, tumor cells taken from the host may be adsorbed with inactivated vaccinia virus and returned to the host, where the modified tumor cells may stimulate an anti-tumor immune response. (NCI04)