Vaccine Therapy With High-Dose Interleukin-2 in Treating Patients With Metastatic Melanoma

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed clearly progressive metastatic or unresectable melanoma
• Must be HLA-A2.1 positive
• Measurable disease
• No active brain metastases, leptomeningeal disease, or seizure disorder
• * More than 4 months since prior definitive therapy (surgery or radiotherapy) for brain metastases and must not have evidence of disease on brain CT scan or MRI
• No ascites or pleural effusions
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age:
• 18 and over
• Performance status:
• ECOG 0-1 OR
• Karnofsky 80-100%
• Life expectancy:
• Not specified
• Hematopoietic:
• WBC at least 3,500/mm\^3
• Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3
• Hemoglobin at least 9 g/dL
• Hepatic:
• Bilirubin no greater than 2.0 mg/dL
• Renal:
• Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL OR
• Creatinine clearance at least 60 mL/min
• Cardiovascular:
• No congestive heart failure
• No symptoms of coronary artery disease
• No serious cardiac arrhythmias
• No evidence of prior myocardial infarction on EKG
• Normal cardiac stress test required for all patients over 40 years
• Pulmonary:
• FEV\_1 greater than 2.0 liters or at least 75% of predicted
• No chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Other:
• HIV negative
• No significant systemic infection
• No contraindication to use of pressor agents
• No history of major psychiatric illness
• No other major illness that would significantly increase the risk of immunotherapy
• No other active malignancy except surgically cured nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ or stage I carcinoma of the cervix
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy:
• No prior interleukin-2
• At least 4 weeks since prior vaccine therapy or other cytokine therapy
• Chemotherapy:
• One prior chemotherapy regimen allowed
• At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for carmustine or lomustine) and recovered
• Endocrine therapy:
• No concurrent steroids
• Radiotherapy:
• See Disease Characteristics
• No prior radiotherapy to areas of measurable disease unless there has been clearly progressive disease in this site or there is measurable disease outside of areas of prior radiation
• At least 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy for local control or palliative therapy and recovered
• Surgery:
• See Disease Characteristics
• Recovered from prior major surgery
• No prior organ allografts
• Other:
• No antihypertensive therapy within 24 hours prior to interleukin-2