Characterization of the Melanoma-Specific Immune Response

The aim of the study is to in-vitro characterize and expand T cells specific for melanoma-derived antigens. Peripheral blood with be collected from 20 volunteers with biopsy proven melanoma and 10 age matched controls. Blood will be collected prior to the initiation of chemotherapy. There will be no more than two blood draws per patient. Most patients will receive a single blood draw; however, some participants may be asked to return for a single additional blood draw if investigators were unable to isolate melanoma-specific immune cells after the first blood draw. Two separate blood draws will be the maximum. The interval between these blood draws will be a minimum of 3 months apart. Blood samples will be used to determine the patient's HLA haplotype via PCR and DNA sequencing. After the patient's haplotype has been established melanoma-specific T cell clones will be generated from the peripheral blood samples and expanded in-vitro. These clones will then be assayed for specificity against commercially available melanoma cell lines. The T cell clones will also be assayed for reactivity to melanocyte differentiation antigens such as MART-1 and gp100. If the volunteer requires a palliative resection of a melanoma tumor then the patient's own tumor cells may also be used to test the specificity of the isolated T cell clones. All experiments will be conducted in-vitro.