Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Recurrent Stage III or Stage IV Melanoma That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically confirmed melanoma meeting the following criteria: * Unresectable recurrent disease * Stage III or IV disease * Cutaneous, ocular, or mucosal melanoma * Measurable disease as defined by the RECIST criteria * HLA-A2 positive * Prior brain metastases allowed provided adequate surgical or radiologic treatment for brain disease PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * ECOG performance status 0 or 1 * WBC ≥ 3,000/mm³ * Lymphocytes ≥ 1,000/mm³ * Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³ * Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times ULN * AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN * Lactic dehydrogenase ≤ 2.0 times ULN * aPTT \< 40 seconds * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile patients must use effective contraception for ≥ 1 week before, during, and for ≥ 2 weeks after completion of study therapy * No conditions of immunosuppression * Negative titers for antinuclear antibody (≤ 1/80) and antidouble stranded DNA (≤ 1/10) * No serious illnesses including, but not limited to, any of the following: * Bleeding disorders * Autoimmune diseases * Severe obstructive or restrictive pulmonary diseases * Active systemic infections * Inflammatory bowel disorders * No serious cardiovascular disease including, but not limited to, any of the following: * Uncontrolled congestive heart failure * Hypertension * Cardiac ischemia * Myocardial infarction, * Severe cardiac arrhythmia * HIV1 and 2 negative * HTLV-1 nega…