Summary

Eligibility
for people ages 18-85 (full criteria)
Healthy Volunteers
healthy people welcome
Location
at UC Davis
Dates
study started
completion around
Principal Investigator
by Emanual Maverakis, M.D. (ucdavis)

Description

Summary

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.

Official Title

Characterization of the Melanoma-Specific Immune Response

Details

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.

Keywords

Melanoma, malignant melanoma

Eligibility

You can join if…

Open to people ages 18-85

  • Biopsy diagnosis of malignant melanoma
  • Have had a biopsy diagnosis of malignant melanoma in the past

You CAN'T join if...

  • Patients taking immunosuppressive medications

Location

  • University of California, Davis Department of Dermatology accepting new patients
    Sacramento California 95816 United States

Lead Scientist at University of California Health

  • Emanual Maverakis, M.D. (ucdavis)
    Professor, Med: Dermatology, School of Medicine. Authored (or co-authored) 219 research publications

Details

Status
accepting new patients
Start Date
Completion Date
(estimated)
Sponsor
University of California, Davis
Links
University of California-Davis Department of Dermatology Clinical Research Learn more or sign up for the study here!
ID
NCT00368615
Study Type
Observational
Participants
Expecting 20 study participants
Last Updated