Vaccine Therapy With or Without Sargramostim in Treating Patients Who Have Undergone Surgery for Melanoma

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate immune reactivity to a tyrosinase:368-376 (370D) /gp100: 209-217 (210M)/MART-1 26-35 (27L) peptide vaccine with Montanide ISA 51 with or without GM-CSF administered as a booster for five vaccinations over two years. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, parallel, continuation study. Patients are stratified according to response to prior vaccination (response to 1 peptide vs response to 2 or more peptides). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. Arm I: Patients receive vaccination comprising tyrosinase peptide, gp100 antigen, and MART-1 antigen emulsified with Montanide ISA-51 and ISA-51 VG subcutaneously (SC) on day 1 of weeks 0, 26, 52, 78, and 104 (total of 5 vaccinations). Arm II: Patients receive vaccination comprising tyrosinase peptide, gp100 antigen, and MART-1 antigen emulsified with Montanide ISA-51 and ISA-51 VG as in arm I. Patients also receive sargramostim (GM-CSF) SC on days 1-5 of weeks 0, 26, 52, 78, and 104. In both arms, treatment continues in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed at 2-4 weeks, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 40 patients (20 per treatment arm) will be accrued for this study within 1 year.