Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Cancer of the Gastrointestinal Tract

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Histologically confirmed stage II, III, or IV adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal tract originating in 1 of the following:
• •* Esophagus
• •* Stomach
• •* Pancreas
• •* Small intestine
• •* Colon or rectum
• •* Gall bladder
• •* Extrahepatic bile ducts
• •* Ampulla of Vater
• •Completed standard therapy and at risk of recurrent disease OR has relatively stable metastatic disease and a life expectancy of at least 6 months
• •Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-producing tumor as evidenced by detectable blood levels of CEA or positive for CEA on immunohistochemical staining
• •Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-A2+
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Age:
• •18 and over
• •Performance status:
• •Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) 0-1
• •Life expectancy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •Hematopoietic:
• •White Blood Count (WBC) at least 4,000/mm\^3
• •Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3
• •Hemoglobin at least 8 g/dL
• •Hepatic:
• •Serum Glutamic Oxalacetic Transaminase (SGOT) or Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (SGPT) no greater than 3 times upper limit of normal
• •Hepatitis B and C negative
• •Renal:
• •Creatinine no greater than 2.0 mg/dL
• •Other:
• •No other prior malignancy unless currently disease free and off all therapy for that malignancy
• •* Early skin cancer allowed
• •No AIDS
• •HIV negative
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 30 days after study participation
• •PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• •Biologic therapy:
• •At least 4 weeks since prior immunotherapy
• •Chemotherapy:
• •At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy
• •Endocrine therapy:
• •Not specified
• •Radiotherapy:
• •At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• •Surgery:
• •At least 4 weeks since prior surgery
• •Other:
• •No other concurrent therapy for malignancy