Vaccine Therapy Plus Interleukin-2 in Treating Women With Stage IV, Recurrent, or Progressive Breast or Ovarian Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically proven adenocarcinoma of the breast or ovary
• Stage IV, recurrent, or progressive disease with no chemotherapy or radiotherapy options available that would increase survival
• Tumor tissue available for determination of p53 protein expression and genetic mutation
• * p53-positive tumor by immunohistochemical analysis
• HLA-A2.1 positive
• No prior CNS metastases
• Hormone receptor status:
• * Not specified
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age:
• 18 and over
• Sex:
• Female
• Menopausal status:
• Not specified
• Performance status:
• ECOG 0 or 1
• Life expectancy:
• More than 3 months
• Hematopoietic:
• Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3
• Hepatic:
• Bilirubin no greater than 2.0 mg/dL
• SGOT or SGPT no greater than 4 times normal
• Hepatitis B surface antigen negative
• Hepatitis C antibody negative
• Renal:
• Creatinine no greater than 2.0 mg/dL
• Cardiovascular:
• No New York Heart Association class III or IV heart disease
• No myocardial infarction within past 6 months
• No prior congestive heart failure
• No prior ventricular arrhythmias or other arrhythmias requiring therapy
• Immunologic:
• Must have positive intradermal delayed hypersensitivity test for 1 of the following:
• * Mumps
• * Trichophyton
• * Tetanus
• * Candida
• * PPD
• No underlying immune deficiency
• No prior autoimmune disease including, but not limited to, the following:
• * Autoimmune neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, or hemolytic anemia
• * Systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, or scleroderma
• * Myasthenia gravis
• * Goodpasture's syndrome
• * Addison's disease
• * Hashimoto's thyroiditis
• * Active Graves' disease
• No active infection requiring antibiotics
• HIV negative
• Other:
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• No other active malignancy within the past 2 years except curatively treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix or basal cell skin cancer
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy:
• At least 4 weeks since prior immunotherapy and recovered
• At least 1 year since prior bone marrow transplantation
• Chemotherapy:
• At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy and recovered
• Endocrine therapy:
• Prior anticancer hormonal therapy allowed
• At least 4 weeks since prior systemic steroids and recovered
• Radiotherapy:
• At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
• Surgery:
• Not specified
• Other:
• Chronic suppressive antibiotics allowed