1. ¹Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA
2. ²Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA
3. ³Abramson Cancer Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
4. ⁴Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA
5. ⁵Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Center for Molecular Biology and Gene Therapy, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA
6. ⁶Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA
7. ⁷Departments of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA

Correspondence: Dr C-F Hung, Departments of Pathology and Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, CRB II Rm. 307, 1550 Orleans Street, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA. E-mail: chung2@jhmi.edu

Received 26 January 2006; Revised 27 June 2006; Accepted 28 June 2006; Published online 17 August 2006.

Abstract

Vaccinia virus has been shown to efficiently infect tumor cells. Therefore, vaccinia virus represents a potentially safe and effective antitumor agent against ovarian cancer. Here, we assessed the ability of vaccinia virus to preferentially infect and control both human and murine ovarian tumors in vivo. We used the non-invasive luminescence imaging system to monitor the infection and suppression of ovarian tumors by vaccinia in live mice. Our data indicated that vaccinia was able to effectively infect and kill both human and murine ovarian tumors. Vaccinia virus administered to mice intraperitoneally was specifically targeted to the murine or human ovarian tumors and led to antitumor responses. These findings suggest that vaccinia virus is capable of selectively targeting and controlling ovarian tumors. Thus, intraperitoneal injection with vaccinia virus may provide a potentially effective strategy for treating advanced-stage ovarian cancers.