RATIONALE: Vaccines made from gene-modified tumor cells may help the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells.

PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of vaccine therapy in treating patients with metastatic melanoma.

In this phase I study, patients will receive intradermal injections of adenovirus-CCL-21 transduced class I peptide-pulsed DC with total volumes for each intradermal injection of no more than 1 ml to be split into four injections of 0.25 ml each in four limbs in node draining areas (proximal arms and thighs), for a total DC dose of 2 X 10^6, 10^7 or 2 X 10^7 cells to be administered intradermally. DC injections in one course of therapy will be given four times at intervals of weekly for two doses (days 1 and 8 +/- 72 hrs.), then every two weeks for two doses (at days 22 +/- 72 hrs. and 36 +/- 72 hours). Cells will be harvested for DC administration and a flow cytometry analysis as well as microbiologic analysis including bacterial/fungal cultures and gram stain will be performed prior to infusion. All injections will be based on number of DC, not number of total cells.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Metastatic melanoma with measurable disease after attempted curative surgical therapy and who have received at least one prior chemotherapy regimen; adjuvant interferon or isolated limb perfusion is allowed.
• Tumor tissue must be available for immunohistochemical analysis, and specimens will stained for MART-1 by immunohistochemical staining and will also be stained for HMB-45 by immunohistochemistry, and positivity for at least one will be an entry requirement.
• Patients must be HLA-A *0201 positive, by a DNA SSOP analysis.
• Serum creatinine of 2.0 mg/dl or less, total bilirubin of 2.0 mg/dl or less, and ALT/AST of less than 3X institutional upper limit of normal.
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1
• Patients must be able to understand and sign an IRB approved informed consent form.
• Patients must have white blood count of 3000 or greater, platelets of 100,000 or greater, and hemoglobin of 9.0 gm/dl or more.
• Patients with unresectable stages III/IV uveal melanoma and metastatic mucosal melanoma will be eligible for this trial.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Undergoing or have undergone in the past month any other therapy for their melanoma, including radiation therapy, chemotherapy and adjuvant therapy
• Have major systemic infections, coagulation disorders, or other major medical illnesses of the cardiovascular or respiratory systems, or have had a documented MI in the last 6 months
• Require steroid therapy
• Patients who are pregnant or lactating
• Known to be positive for hepatitis BsAg, Hepatitis C or HIV antibody
• Have a prior history of uveitis or autoimmune inflammatory eye disease
• Have had another malignancy other than cervical carcinoma-in-situ or basal cell /squamous cancer of the skin, unless they have undergone curative therapy more than 3 years ago and are still free of detectable disease, since the effects of peptide-pulsed DC on other active cancers are unknown