Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage IIB, Stage IIC, Stage III, or Stage IV Melanoma

This is an interventional treatment trial for Intraocular Melanoma focused on measuring stage II melanoma, stage III melanoma, stage IV melanoma, recurrent melanoma, ciliary body and choroid melanoma, medium/large size, ciliary body and choroid melanoma, small size, recurrent intraocular melanoma, metastatic intraocular melanoma Read More

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed malignant melanoma

  • Stage IIB, IIC, III, or IV disease

    • Patients free of disease after surgical resection must meet 1 of the following criteria:

      • Refused high-dose interferon alfa
      • Recurrence while on interferon alfa
    • Patients with stage IIB, IIC, or III disease must have already undergone initial standard therapy (i.e., surgery) for the disease

• Choroidal (uveal) melanoma allowed provided 1 of the following criteria is met:

  • Basal diameter > 16 mm
  • Basal height > 8 mm
  • Involvement of the ciliary body with tumor
• HLA-A*0201 positive
• Negative serum antidouble-stranded DNA antibody screen
• No known brain metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Karnofsky performance status 80-100%
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3
• WBC ≥ 3,000/mm^3
• Lactic dehydrogenase ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
• Bilirubin ≤ 2.5 times ULN
• Albumin ≥ 3.5 mg/dL
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• Weight ≥ 25 kg
• No preexisting choroidal eye disease
• No serious underlying medical conditions that could be exacerbated by study participation (i.e., active infections requiring antimicrobial drugs or active bleeding)
• No allergy to gold (i.e., gold jewelry)

• No evidence of any condition at the proposed site(s) of vaccine administration that might interfere with the interpretation of local skin reactions, including any of the following:

  • Damaged skin
  • Moles
  • Scars
  • Tattoos
  • Marks
• No prior medical condition or use of medication (e.g., corticosteroids) that might make it difficult for the patient to complete the full course of treatment or to respond immunologically to vaccines

• No history or evidence (within the past 5 years) of a physician-diagnosed chronic or recurrent inflammatory skin disease at the proposed site of vaccine administration, including any of the following:

  • Psoriasis
  • Eczema
  • Atopic dermatitis
  • Hypersensitivity
• No history of keloid formation

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas) and recovered
• No prior immunization with any class of vaccine containing gp100 peptide
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• No other concurrent systemic therapy or radiotherapy