Immunotherapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer

You may be eligible if

• 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