Overall, the results presented herein show that: i) the production of CXCL10 and a specific IFNα-signature are observed in PBMC as early as 24 hr after cytokine injection in healthy donors and melanoma patients; ii) such response is transient, does not reach a steady-state level of refractoriness and can occur after inoculation of as little as 1 millions of units of IFNα. The gene discussed is CXCL10; the disease is melanoma.