Research Abstract
We performed a clinical trial of vaccination with lethally irradiated, autologous melanoma cells expressing human GM-CSF. Vaccination elicits a striking infiltrate of pre-existing metastatic lesions with large numbers of lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages, and eosinophils, resulting in tumor destruction, fibrosis and edema. From this foundation we are determining the melanoma antigens that have stimulated specific T and B cell responses in vaccinated patients through molecular analyses.