Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Recurrent Prostate Cancer

This phase II trial is studying how well vaccine therapy works in treating patients with recurrent prostate cancer. Vaccines made from peptides may help the body build an effective immune response to kill tumor cells

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the T-lymphocyte immune response in patients with recurrent adenocarcinoma of the prostate treated with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) peptide vaccine (PSA-3A; PSA: 154-163 \[155L\]) emulsified in Montanide ISA-51. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the toxicity of this vaccine in these patients. II. Determine the effect of this vaccine on serum PSA level in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a pilot study. Patients receive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) peptide vaccine (PSA-3A; PSA: 154-163 \[155L\]) emulsified in Montanide ISA-51 subcutaneously once in weeks 0, 2, 4, 6, 10, 14, and 18 in the absence of disease progression\* or unacceptable toxicity. NOTE: \*A rise in PSA alone is not considered disease progression. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed at 1 and 4 weeks.