Vaccine Therapy Plus Sargramostim in Treating Patients With Stage III or Stage IV Cancer

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the safety of serial intradermal or subcutaneous vaccinations of HER-2 derived p369-377 peptide incorporated into polylactide-co-glycolide (PLG) microspheres with adjuvant sargramostim (GM-CSF) in patients with stage III or IV HER-2 expressing cancers. II. Determine whether cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) specific for the HER-2 protein can be elicited in patients with HLA-A2 by immunization with this regimen. III. Determine which route of immunization, intradermal or subcutaneous, is more effective in generating HER-2 specific CTL in these patients on this regimen. IV. Determine the extent to which escalated dose of PLG peptide affects the immune response in these patients on this regimen. OUTLINE: Patients undergo leukapheresis prior to study and after final vaccination. Patients are sequentially entered into one of three treatment arms: Arm I: Patients receive an intradermal vaccination of HER-2 derived p369-377 peptide incorporated into polylactide-co-glycolide (PLG) microspheres with adjuvant sargramostim (GM-CSF). Arm II: Patients receive a subcutaneous vaccination of HER-2 derived p369-377 peptide incorporated into PLG microspheres with adjuvant GM-CSF. Arm III: Patients receive a higher dose of subcutaneous vaccination of HER-2 derived p369-377 peptide incorporated into PLG microspheres with adjuvant GM-CSF. Treatment repeats every 4 weeks for up to 6 courses in the absence of unacceptable toxicity. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 15 patients (5 per treatment arm) will be accrued for this study.