GM-CSF in Treating Patients With Relapsed Prostate Cancer

OBJECTIVES: Primary * To determine the ability of sargramostim (GM-CSF) to increase the number and activation of dendritic cells (DC) in patients with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer. Secondary * To determine the effect of administration schedule and hormonal state on sargramostim-induced DC number and activation in these patients. * To correlate the effects of sargramostim on DC number and activation with effects on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) modulation. * To determine whether sargramostim administration generates antiprostate cancer immune responses in these patients. OUTLINE: Patients are stratified according to hormonal status (androgen-dependent vs androgen-independent). Patients are then randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive sargramostim (GM-CSF) subcutaneously (SC) on days 1-14. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. * Arm II: Patients receive GM-CSF SC three times weekly for 4 weeks. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients undergo blood sample collection periodically for correlative studies. Samples are analyzed for dendritic cell (DC) number by flow cytometry, DC activation by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR), and immunity by serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression libraries (SEREX).