Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To assess the toxicity associated with repeated vaccination with an admixture of recombinant vaccinia viruses (rV-MUC-1 and rV-TRICOM). II. To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of rV-MUC-1 and rV-TRICOM vaccine admixture. III. To evaluate the toxicity of adding GM-CSF to the admixture of the rV-MUC-1 and rV-TRICOM. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To assess host immune reactivity following rV-MUC-1 and rV-TRICOM with and without GM-CSF administration. II. To determine whether vaccination with rV-MUC-1 and rV-TRICOM with and without GM-CSF is associated with antitumor activity. OUTLINE: This is an open-label, dose-escalation study. Patients receive vaccination comprising recombinant vaccinia-MUC-1 and recombinant vaccinia-TRICOM vaccine intradermally on days 1 and 29 (for a total of 2 doses) in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Cohorts of 3-6 patients receive escalating doses of recombinant vaccinia-MUC-1 and recombinant vaccinia-TRICOM vaccine until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined. The MTD is defined as the dose preceding that at which 2 of 3 or 2 of 6 patients experience dose-limiting toxicity. Once the MTD is determined, an additional 10 patients (including 5 HLA-A2-positive patients) receive vaccination as above at the MTD and sargramostim (GM-CSF) subcutaneously on days 1-4 and 29-32. Patients are followed at 4 weeks, monthly until disease progression, and then annually for up to 15 years. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 11-22 patients will be accrued for this study within 18-24 months.