Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Histologically confirmed metastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate
• •* Stage D1-3
• •* Regional lymph node, bone, visceral, or soft tissue metastases
• •* No transitional cell or small cell carcinoma
• •Testosterone less than 50 mg/L if prior treatment with luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) analogues or estrogens
• •Evidence of androgen refractory disease after surgical castration and discontinuation of LHRH analogue therapy
• •No previously irradiated or new CNS metastases
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Age:
• •18 and over
• •Performance status:
• •Karnofsky 70-100%
• •Life expectancy:
• •More than 6 months
• •Hematopoietic:
• •WBC at least 3,000/mm\^3
• •Hemoglobin at least 9 g/dL
• •Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3
• •Hepatic:
• •Bilirubin less than 2.0 mg/dL
• •PT at least 11.3 seconds but no greater than 13.3 seconds
• •PTT at least 20.1 seconds but no greater than 32.9 seconds
• •No hepatic disease
• •No viral hepatitis
• •Renal:
• •Creatinine less than 2.5 mg/dL
• •Cardiovascular:
• •No New York Heart Association class III or IV heart disease
• •Pulmonary:
• •No asthma
• •No chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• •No severe lung disease
• •Other:
• •No other medical illness or psychological impediment that would preclude study
• •No other concurrent malignancy except nonmelanoma skin cancer or controlled superficial bladder cancer
• •No active acute or chronic infection including symptomatic urinary tract infection
• •No autoimmune disease (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, or multiple sclerosis)
• •HIV negative
• •Adequate peripheral vein access
• •PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• •Biologic therapy:
• •Prior biologic therapy allowed
• •No other concurrent immunotherapy
• •Chemotherapy:
• •Prior chemotherapy allowed
• •No concurrent chemotherapy
• •Endocrine therapy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •At least 4 weeks since prior non-steroidal hormonal therapy if increase in PSA while receiving non-steroidal hormonal therapy
• •At least 6 weeks since prior steroids
• •Concurrent LHRH analogues for gonadal androgen suppression allowed
• •No concurrent steroid therapy
• •No concurrent corticosteroids
• •Radiotherapy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •Prior palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases allowed
• •Prior prostatic radiotherapy allowed
• •At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• •At least 12 weeks since prior strontium chloride Sr 89
• •No concurrent radiotherapy
• •Surgery:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •Other:
• •Recovered from prior therapy
• •No concurrent immunosuppressive agents (e.g., azathioprine or cyclosporine)