We reported that the depth of homeostatic T-cell proliferation correlated tightly with the extent of lymphodepletion and was accompanied by increased levels of IL-15 but not of IL-7; however, despite efficient homeostatic proliferation of total CD4 and CD8 T cells, the frequency of CD8 T cells specific for MART-1 and cancer-testis antigens were quite low. This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and cancer.