Trogocytosis is a contact-dependent inter-cellular transfer of membrane fragments and associated molecules from antigen presenting cells to effector lymphocytes. We previously demonstrated that trogocytosis also occurs between tumor target and cognate melanoma antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTL). Here we show that, following trogocytosis, immune effector cells acquire molecular components of the tumor, including surface antigens, which are detectable by specific monoclonal antibodies. We demonstrate that CD8+ and CD4+ T cells from melanoma patients’ PBMC and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) capture melanoma antigens, enabling identification of trogocytosing lymphocytes by staining with antigen-specific antibodies. This finding circumvents the necessity of tumor pre-labeling, which in the past was mandatory to detect membrane-capturing T cells. Through the detection of melanoma antigens on TIL, we sorted trogocytosing T cells and verified their preferential reactivity and cytotoxicity. Furthermore, tumor-antigen imprinted T cells were detected at low frequency in fresh TIL cultures shortly after extraction from the tumor. Thus, T cell imprinting by tumor antigens may allow the enrichment of melanoma antigen-specific T cells for research and potentially even for the adoptive immunotherapy of patients with cancer.