Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage III or Stage IV Melanoma That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Diagnosis of melanoma Unresectable stage III or IV disease Mucosal or ocular disease allowed Positive HLA-A1, -A2, or -A3 expression PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age 12 and over Performance status ECOG 0-1 Life expectancy Not specified Hematopoietic Absolute neutrophil count > 1,000/mm^3 Platelet count > 100,000/mm^3 Hemoglobin > 9 g/dL Hepatic Liver function tests ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) Renal Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN Cardiovascular No New York Heart Association class III or IV heart disease Other Weight ≥ 100 pounds Not pregnant or nursing No other malignancy within the past 5 years except squamous cell or basal cell skin cancer without known metastasis, carcinoma in situ of the breast, or carcinoma in situ of the cervix PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy No prior vaccination with any of the peptides used in this protocol More than 1 year since prior melanoma vaccine therapy More than 4 weeks since prior immunotherapy More than 4 weeks since prior growth factors More than 4 weeks since prior allergy shots Chemotherapy More than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy Endocrine therapy More than 4 weeks since prior steroid therapy Radiotherapy More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy Surgery Prior tumor resection allowed