Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With High-Risk Stage III or Completely Resected Metastatic Melanoma

PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA: --Disease Characteristics-- High risk stage III melanoma (greater than 3 lymph nodes positive) OR completely resected metastatic melanoma within 6 months of surgery Disease free by CT scan HLA-A201 positive --Prior/Concurrent Therapy-- Biologic therapy: At least 4 weeks since prior biologic therapy No prior MART-1 or gp100 peptide immunization No concurrent biologic therapy Chemotherapy: At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy No concurrent chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: At least 4 weeks since prior endocrine therapy No concurrent systemic steroid therapy Radiotherapy: At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy No concurrent radiotherapy Surgery: See Disease Characteristics No concurrent surgery --Patient Characteristics-- Age: 16 and over Performance status: ECOG 0-1 Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: WBC at least 3,000/mm3 Platelet count at least 90,000/mm3 No coagulation disorder Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 1.6 mg/dL AST or ALT less than 3 times upper limit of normal Renal: Creatinine no greater than 2.0 mg/dL Cardiovascular: No major cardiac disease Pulmonary: No major pulmonary disease Other: Not pregnant or nursing Fertile patients must use effective contraception No active systemic infection No autoimmune disorders HIV negative Hepatitis B surface antigen negative