A vaccine consisting of a replication-defective recombinant canarypox virus (ALVAC) that encodes the gene for human interleukin-12 (hIL-12). Produced mainly by B-cells, IL-12 is an endogenous cytokine that activates natural killer (NK) cells, promotes cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses, induces the release of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and may exhibit antitumor and anti-angiogenic effects. Vaccination with canarypox-hIL-12 melanoma vaccine may stimulate the host immune system to mount an immune response against tumor cells, thereby inhibiting tumor growth and/or metastasis.