Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic, Progressive Prostate Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed prostate cancer with evidence of progressive disease despite hormonal therapy (i.e., hormone-refractory prostate cancer)
• * Metastatic disease
• * Progressive disease defined by any of the following:
• * New bone lesion on bone scan
• * Progression of nodal or soft tissue as evidenced by standard radiographic methods, i.e., CT scan or MRI
• * A 50% increase in PSA level from the nadir PSA level confirmed twice and measured at least 2 weeks apart, with stable and measurable disease
• Castrate serum levels of testosterone \< 50 ng/dL
• If patient was receiving anti-androgen therapy, in addition to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist therapy, the evidence of progressive disease should persist after a trial of anti-androgen withdrawal
• * Treatment with LHRH agonist to maintain androgen ablation must continue throughout this trial
• Baseline PSA ≥ 10 ng/mL
• All patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer and matched HLA typing are eligible for vaccination regardless of initial NY-ESO-1 expression status
• * Patients must be typed for HLA-DR4, DR13, DP4, or HLA-A2 haplotypes
• No active brain metastases
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Zubrod performance status 0-2
• Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks
• ANC ≥ 1,500/mm³
• Hemoglobin ≥ 10 mg/dL
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
• SGPT ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal
• Serum creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL
• Wiling to be followed at Baylor College of Medicine
• No serious intercurrent medical illness
• No history of primary or secondary immunodeficiency
• No active systemic infection
• No known hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis C, or HIV antibody positivity
• No history of cardiac arrhythmia or ischemic heart disease
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• See Disease Characteristics
• At least 6 weeks since prior immunotherapy (including anti-androgen therapy) and recovered
• More than 28 days since prior chemotherapy
• No concurrent immunosuppressive drugs such as systemic corticosteroids