Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With HER2/Neu Positive or Negative Stage IV Breast Cancer or Other HER2/Neu Positive Cancers

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed breast cancer meeting 1 of the following criteria:
• Recurrent and/or metastatic lesions that are HER2/neu-positive or negative
• Recurrent or progressive cancer of the lung, ovary, pancreas, prostate, bladder, or other primary site associated with HER2/neu-positive tumor by histochemistry
• Bone-only metastatic breast cancer, cytologically confirmed malignant effusions, histologically confirmed marrow involvement, or other evaluable (but non-measurable) metastatic disease allowed
• Failed prior first-line chemotherapy (e.g., anthracycline- or taxane-based therapy) with or without adjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy
• No curative or reliably effective palliative surgery, radiotherapy, or medical therapy available
• Stable brain metastases allowed provided the following criteria are met*:
• Previously treated
• No concurrent requirement for corticosteroids
• No radiological or clinical deterioration within the past 6 weeks NOTE: *Patients who had recent treatment with gamma knife or intensity-modulated radiotherapy for brain metastases are eligible provided there has been recovery from known or anticipated toxic effects
• Patients with no HLA-A2 allele are eligible
• Hormone receptor status:
• Not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Sex

• Female or male

Menopausal status

• Not specified

Performance status

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

• At least 4 months

Hematopoietic

• Absolute granulocyte count ≥ 1,000/mm^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3

Hepatic

• Bilirubin ≤ 2 mg/dL
• Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• ALT and AST ≤ 2 times ULN

Renal

• BUN ≤ 30 mg/dL
• Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL
• ≤ 1 g protein on 24-hour urine collection OR
• ≤ 1+ proteinuria on urinalysis

Cardiovascular

• Hypertension controlled by agents (except beta-blockers) allowed

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• HIV negative
• No history of anaphylactic reaction to any known or unknown antigen
• No history of clinical hypersensitivity to sargramostim (GM-CSF), interferon, yeast, beef, or to any components used in preparation of study vaccine
• No clinical or laboratory features indicative of AIDS
• No rheumatological, psychiatric, or other clinically progressive major medical problems requiring treatment
• No other malignancy within the past 2 years

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• More than 3 weeks since prior biological therapy, including trastuzumab (Herceptin^®)
• More than 3 weeks since prior immunotherapy
• No concurrent immunotherapy

Chemotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 3 weeks since prior chemotherapy (8 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin)
• No concurrent chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 3 weeks since prior hormonal therapy
• No concurrent hormonal therapy
• No concurrent systemic steroids
• Concurrent inhalation steroids for respiratory hypersensitivity (e.g., triamcinolone nasal or pulmonary inhalers) allowed

Radiotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No concurrent radiotherapy

Surgery

• More than 3 weeks since prior major surgery with general anesthesia
• No concurrent major surgery

Other

• Recovered from prior therapy
• Patients receiving pamidronate, bisphosphonates, or other supportive measures must continue therapy during study participation
• No concurrent anticoagulants
• No concurrent beta-blockers for control of mild hypertension or other indications