Vaccinia virus: the possibilities of its oncogenicity in humans

Contrary to the earlier generally accepted view that vaccinia virus replicates in the cytoplasm only of suitable target cells, steadily accumulating data show that the viral genome spends a limited period of time in the nucleus. This, together with the many cases where a close association has been suspected or established between skin cancer and vaccination, suggests that vaccinia virus may, under certain yet undefined physiological conditions, act as an oncogenic virus in humans.