Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic Melanoma of the Eye

PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA: --Disease Characteristics-- Diagnosis of metastatic ocular melanoma Progressive disease Measurable disease HLA-A\*201 positive --Prior/Concurrent Therapy-- Biologic therapy: At least 3 weeks since prior biologic therapy Chemotherapy: At least 3 weeks since prior chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: At least 3 weeks since prior endocrine therapy No concurrent steroid therapy Radiotherapy: At least 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy Surgery: Not specified --Patient Characteristics-- Age: 16 and over Performance status: ECOG 0-2 Life expectancy: More than 3 months Hematopoietic: WBC at least 3,000/mm3 Platelet count at least 90,000/mm3 No coagulation disorders Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 2.0 mg/dL AST/ALT less than 3 times normal Hepatitis B surface antigen negative Renal: Creatinine no greater than 2.0 mg/dL Cardiovascular: No major cardiovascular illness For interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy: No cardiac ischemia No myocardial infarction No cardiac arrhythmias Pulmonary: No major respiratory system illness For IL-2 therapy: No obstructive or restrictive pulmonary disease Other: Not pregnant or nursing Negative pregnancy test Fertile patients must use effective contraception No active systemic infection No autoimmune disease No primary or secondary immunodeficiency by abnormal lymphocyte counts or presence of opportunistic infection