The main focus of our Unit is the study of new human T cell-defined tumor antigens, and their molecular characterization, in order to improve the design and clinical outcome of clinical trials of immunotherapy (particularly vaccination), of cancer patients. More specifically, patients with metastatic melanoma, colon and pancreatic cancer will be studied. Intermediate objective of our work include: 1. molecular characterization of new, HLA class I- and class II-restricted T cell-defined antigens deriving from somatic mutations and/or splicing alterations of cancer cells; 2. analysis of the immunological profile of melanoma, pancreatic and brain cancer stem cells; 3. analysis of the role of T regulatory cells in interfering with the immune response in cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy. In addition, The Unit takes care of the clinical diagnosis and therapy of melanoma patients in different stage of the disease. Several translational clinical studies are ongoing or will be activated to enrol patients with melanoma or other human solid tumors (e.g. prostate cancer).