Vaccine Therapy in Treating HLA-A2 Positive Patients With Melanoma

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients must have histologically confirmed primary melanoma of Breslow thickness 1.0-4.0 mm; patients who have had only their initial biopsy are preferred; however, those who have already undergone a wide local excision are also eligible; patients may be enrolled up to three months after their wide local excision
• Patients whose melanoma is > 4.0 mm thick who have positive or negative regional lymph nodes are also eligible
• After accrual to the original 26 patient goal, all patients must be enrolled prior to sentinel lymph node dissection; patients with previous lymph node dissection will not be eligible
• Patients must be HLA typed and be shown to be HLA-A2.1+ by either serologic techniques, flow cytometry, or molecular techniques
• Patients must be ambulatory with good performance status (Karnofsky performance status [PS] 80-100)
• White blood cell (WBC) >= 3500/mm^3
• Platelets (Plt) >= 100,000/mm^3
• Hemoglobin >= 9 gm/100 ml
• Serum creatinine =< 2 mg/dl
• Total bilirubin =< 2.0 mg/dl
• Patients must have recovered from any effects of major surgery and be free of significant systemic infection
• Patients must be negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (or negative by Western blot if ELISA is positive) if they are considered to be at high risk; others do not require serologic testing if there are no symptoms or risk factors for HIV disease
• Women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test and should avoid becoming pregnant while on treatment
• Patients must give written informed consent prior to initiation of therapy; patients with a history of major psychiatric illness must be judged able to fully understand the investigational nature of the study and the risks associated with the therapy

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients must not have clinically detectable distant metastases
• Patients who require or are likely to require systemic corticosteroids for intercurrent illness
• Patients with any significant medical disease other than the malignancy (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder [COPD], patients with ascites or pleural effusions) which in the opinion of the investigator would significantly increase the risk of immunotherapy
• Patient should be free of any other cancers or deemed at low risk for their recurrence