Immunotherapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Histologically confirmed metastatic breast cancer that expresses carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)
• •* At least 25% of the tumor cells must stain positive for CEA with at least moderate intensity
• •Must have achieved either partial response or complete response after high dose chemotherapy and peripheral blood stem cell transplant
• •Hormone receptor status:
• •* Not specified
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Age:
• •18 and over
• •Menopausal status:
• •Not specified
• •Performance status:
• •Karnofsky 70-100%
• •Life expectancy:
• •Greater than 6 months
• •Hematopoietic:
• •Absolute neutrophil count at least 1000/mm\^3
• •Absolute lymphocyte count at least 1000/mm\^3
• •Hemoglobin at least 9 mg/dL
• •Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3
• •Hepatic:
• •Bilirubin less than 2.0 mg/dL
• •No serious ongoing chronic or acute hepatic disease
• •Renal:
• •Creatinine less than 2.5 mg/dL
• •Cardiovascular:
• •No serious ongoing chronic or acute cardiac disease (New York Heart Association class III or IV)
• •Pulmonary:
• •No serious ongoing chronic or acute pulmonary illness such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or radiation or drug induced pneumonitis
• •Other:
• •No other prior or concurrent malignancy except nonmelanoma skin cancer or controlled superficial bladder cancer within the past 5 years
• •No history of autoimmune disease such as inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, or multiple sclerosis
• •No inflammatory bowel condition such as active infectious enteritis or eosinophilic enteritis
• •No active acute or chronic infection such as urinary tract infection, HIV, or viral hepatitis
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• •Biologic therapy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •No concurrent immunotherapy
• •Chemotherapy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •No concurrent chemotherapy
• •Endocrine therapy:
• •At least 4 weeks since steroids
• •No concurrent steroid therapy
• •Radiotherapy:
• •No concurrent radiotherapy
• •Surgery:
• •Not specified
• •Other:
• •No concurrent immunosuppressive agents such as azathioprine or cyclosporine A