Characterization of the Melanoma-Specific Immune Response



Status:Recruiting
Conditions:Skin Cancer
Therapuetic Areas:Oncology
Healthy:No
Age Range:18 - 85
Updated:7/20/2018
Start Date:August 2007
End Date:May 2019
Contact:Emanual Maverakis, M.D.
Email:emaverakis@ucdavis.edu
Phone:916-734-1267

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The aim of this study is to study T-cells. Blood will be collected and the samples will be
used to generate T cell clones. Two separate blood draws will be required at the maximum.

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.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Biopsy diagnosis of malignant melanoma

- Have had a biopsy diagnosis of malignant melanoma in the past

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients taking immunosuppressive medications
We found this trial at
1
site
Sacramento, California 95816
Principal Investigator: Emanual Maverakis, M.D.
Phone: 916-734-6556
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Sacramento, CA
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