Vaccine Therapy and Dasatinib in Treating Patients with Stage IIIB-IV Melanoma

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients must be HLA-A2+ and have histologically confirmed melanoma that is metastatic (stage IV) or unresectable stage IIIB/C and for which standard curative or palliative measures do not exist or are no longer effective
• Patients must have measurable disease by RECIST 1.1, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded for non-nodal lesions and short axis for nodal lesions) as >= 20 mm with conventional techniques or as >= 10 mm with spiral computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or calipers by clinical exam
• Patients should have at least 2 subcutaneous, intracutaneous, and accessible tumor deposits, lymph node or other site available for biopsy purposes; patients that have one biopsiable site that can be amenable to 2 biopsies (pre- and post-) will be considered eligible
• Prior chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy is allowed as long as it did not include dasatinib
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =< 2 (Karnofsky >= 60%)
• Life expectancy of greater than 12 weeks
• Leukocytes >= 3,000/uL
• Absolute neutrophil count >= 1,500/uL
• Absolute lymphocyte count >= 500/uL
• Platelets >= 100,000/uL
• Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits
• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)(serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase [SGOT])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT)(serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase [SGPT]) =< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal
• Creatinine =< 2.0 x institutional upper limit of normal
• Serum magnesium >= the institutional lower limit of normal (supplementation of electrolytes prior to screening is allowed)
• Serum potassium >= the institutional lower limit of normal (supplementation of electrolytes prior to screening is allowed)
• Adjusted (or ionized) calcium >= the institutional lower limit of normal (supplementation of electrolytes prior to screening is allowed)
• Sexually active women and men of childbearing potential must agree to use an effective method of birth control during the course of the study and for up to 3 months following the last dose of the study drug, in a manner such that risk of pregnancy is minimized; surgical sterilization, intrauterine device, birth control pills, or barrier method (e.g. condom and/or diaphragm with spermicidal agents) are acceptable forms of birth control; women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test (serum) within 7 days prior to treatment; a pregnancy test is not required for registration; women who have not menstruated for more than 2 years will be considered postmenopausal, thus not of childbearing potential
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
• Patients with documented c-KIT mutations
• Patients who are receiving any other investigational agents
• Patients with known active brain metastases should be excluded; patients with treated brain metastases with documented stability for 4 weeks are eligible
• History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to dasatinib or any of the components of the vaccine being administered as part of this study
• Women who are pregnant or nursing/breastfeeding
• History of significant bleeding disorder unrelated to cancer, including: * Diagnosed congenital bleeding disorders (e.g., von Willebrand’s disease) * Diagnosed acquired bleeding disorder within one year (e.g., acquired anti-factor VIII antibodies)
• Patients currently taking medications that inhibit platelet function (i.e., aspirin, dipyridamole, epoprostenol, eptifibatide, clopidogrel, cilostazol, abciximab, ticlopidine, and any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug)
• Patients currently taking anticoagulants (warfarin, heparin/low molecular weight heparin [e.g., danaparoid, dalteparin, tinzaparin, enoxaparin])
• Diagnosis of unstable angina or myocardial infarction within 6 months of study entry
• Patients currently taking one or more of the following drugs that are generally accepted to have a risk of causing Torsades de Pointes: * Quinidine, procainamide, disopyramide * Amiodarone, sotalol, ibutilide, dofetilide * Erythromycins, clarithromycin * Chlorpromazine, haloperidol, mesoridazine, thioridazine, pimozide * Cisapride, bepridil, droperidol, methadone, arsenic, chloroquine, domperidone, halofantrine, levomethadyl, pentamidine, sparfloxacin, lidoflazine
• Diagnosed or suspected congenital long QT syndrome
• Prolonged corrected QT (QTc) interval on pre-entry electrocardiogram (> 450 msec) within 30 days prior to study registration
• Any history of clinically significant ventricular arrhythmias (such as ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, or Torsades de pointes)
• Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy are ineligible