Patent ID: 7807186

Claim:
A tumor cell-based immunovaccine for a recipient comprising: primary immune-privilege tumor cells that constitutively express MHC class I molecules and do not constitutively express MHC class II molecules or Ii and cannot be induced to express MHC II or Ii; wherein the primary immune-privilege tumor cells are genetically modified to express at least one costimulatory molecule, and at least one MHC class II allele, wherein the MHC class II allele is syngeneic to the recipient and wherein the combination of expressed costimulatory molecule and the MHC class II allele activates naive CD4+ T cells and produces high levels of IFN-γ relative to non primary immune privilege tumors expressing the combination, wherein the primary tumor cells are primary uveal melanoma cells and wherein the costimulatory molecule is CD80.