Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Previously Treated Stage II or Stage III Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVES: Primary * To determine the safety and immunization efficacy of MUC1 and HER-2/neu peptide vaccines combined with CpG oligodeoxynucleotide, sargramostim (GM-CSF), or both, as immune adjuvants suspended in Freund's incomplete adjuvant in patients with previously treated stage II or III adenocarcinoma of the breast. Secondary * To describe the impact of immunization on clinical outcomes in patients with MUC1-positive breast cancer in terms of disease-free survival and overall survival. OUTLINE: Patients are stratified according to Her-2/neu status (positive vs negative). Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms. * Arm A: Patients receive a vaccine comprising incomplete Freund's adjuvant, MUC1 antigen vaccine, two Her-2/neu peptide-based vaccines, and sargramostim (GM-CSF) subcutaneously (SC) on day 1. * Arm B: Patients receive a vaccine comprising incomplete Freund's adjuvant, MUC1 antigen vaccine, two Her-2/neu peptide-based vaccines (one of them different than in arm A), and CpG oligodeoxynucleotide SC on day 1. * Arm C: Patients receive a vaccine comprising incomplete Freund's adjuvant, MUC1 antigen vaccine, two Her-2/neu peptide-based vaccines (one of them different than in arm A; the same as in arm B), GM-CSF, and CpG oligodeoxynucleotide SC on day 1. In all arms, treatment repeats every 4 weeks for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients who complete 6 courses of treatment without disease recurrence or a second primary or intolerable toxicity will go to the observation phase of the study for up to 2 years. Patients who develop recurrent disease during the observational phase will go to the event monitoring phase for up to 2 years. Blood samples are collected periodically. Blood samples and tissue samples from the patient's most recent surgery are used for correlative studies including immune responses to T helper and CTL epitopes by Elispot and tetramer analysis; and antigenic profiling by expression analysis of class I HLA antigens, MUC1, and HER-2 in tumor tissue. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed periodically until disease recurrence or for up to 2 years.