OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study of intralesional recombinant vaccinia virus encoding the gene for sargramostim (GM-CSF) (rV-GM-CSF). Patients are stratified by center. Patients receive small pox (vaccinia) vaccine via multipuncture technique on day 0. On day 4, patients with a progressive major reaction to the initial vaccination receive rV-GM-CSF intralesionally twice weekly for 5 weeks. Only 1 lesion is treated and at least 1 measurable lesion is left untreated in each patient. Patients with responding disease after week 5 are retreated at a clinically appropriate dose and schedule. Cohorts of 5 patients receive escalating doses of intralesional rV-GM-CSF until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined. Additional patients receive rV-GM-CSF at the MTD.