Vaccine Therapy and Interleukin-12 in Treating Patients With Metastatic Melanoma

Overview

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a tumor antigen gene may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Interleukin-12 may kill tumor cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor and by stimulating a person's white blood cell to kill melanoma cells. Combining vaccine therapy with interleukin-12 may kill more melanoma cells. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy plus interleukin-12 in treating patients who have metastatic melanoma.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the safety and maximum tolerated dose level of the vaccine consisting of MAGE-3 or Melan-A (human tumor antigen genes) peptide-pulsed autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells plus interleukin-12. II. Determine if the procedure results in successful immunization. III. Assess the response of the tumor to the vaccine. OUTLINE: This is an open label, nonrandomized, single institution study. Patients receive 3 initial courses of treatment consisting of 21 days each. Treatment consists of an immunization with MAGE-3 or Melan-A peptide-loaded autologous PBMC and interleukin-12 (IL-12) on the first day, IL-12 on days 3 and 5, and 16 days of rest. The first cohort is not administered IL-12 and the next cohorts are given escalating doses of IL-12. The Phase II dose will be one dose level below the MTD. Patients who have a tumor remission response or stable disease may continue treatment for up to one year. Phase I completed as of 04/1999. Patients are followed every 3 months. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 34 patients will be accrued for this study.

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