Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Liver or Lung Metastases From Colorectal Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically confirmed hepatic or pulmonary metastases secondary to adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum

Must have undergone complete resection of hepatic or pulmonary metastases with curative intent

No evidence of gross residual disease after surgery
One or more resected and ablated lesions allowed provided all gross residual tumor was destroyed by ablation
Repeated resections of hepatic metastatic disease or resections of extrahepatic metastases prior to resection of the hepatic metastases allowed provided the most recent hepatic metastatic resection included total disease resection and/or ablation
Must have received at least 2 months of perioperative systemic chemotherapy (including preoperative and/or postoperative chemotherapy) that was completed at least 1 month ago

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

At least 18

Performance status

Karnofsky 70-100%

Life expectancy

At least 6 months

Hematopoietic

Platelet count ≥ 75,000/mm^3
Hemoglobin ≥ 8.5 g/dL (transfusion or epoetin alfa allowed)

Hepatic

Bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
Hepatitis B surface antigen negative
Hepatitis C antibody negative
No other serious chronic or acute hepatic disease

Renal

Creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL OR
Creatinine clearance > 60 mL/min

Cardiovascular

No New York Heart Association class III or IV cardiac disease
No other serious chronic or acute cardiac disease

Pulmonary

No asthma
No chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
No other serious chronic or acute pulmonary disease

Immunologic

No history of autoimmune disease, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

Inflammatory bowel disease
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Ankylosing spondylitis
Scleroderma
Multiple sclerosis
No human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot
Not immunocompromised (by disease or therapy)
No allergy to eggs or any component of the study vaccine
No history of allergy or untoward reaction to prior vaccinia (smallpox) vaccination
No allergy or untoward reaction to sargramostim (GM-CSF)
No active acute or chronic infection, including urinary tract infection within the past 72 hours

No inflammatory bowel conditions, including, but not limited to, the following:

Active infectious enteritis
Eosinophilic enteritis

No acute, chronic, or exfoliative skin disorders, including any of the following:

Extensive psoriasis
Burns
Impetigo
Disseminated zoster
Varicella zoster
Severe acne
Other open rashes or wounds

Other

Not pregnant or nursing
Fertile patients must use effective contraception

Able to avoid close contact or household contact for 3 weeks after each vaccination with the following individuals:

Children under 5 years of age
Pregnant or nursing women
Individuals with prior or concurrent extensive eczema, other eczematoid skin disorders, or other acute or chronic skin conditions
Immunosuppressed or immunodeficient individuals
No medical or psychological condition that would preclude study compliance
No extensive eczema
No other serious chronic or acute illness that would preclude study participation
No other malignancy within the past 5 years except nonmelanoma skin cancer, controlled superficial bladder cancer, or previously treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

No other concurrent immunotherapy

Chemotherapy

See Disease Characteristics
No concurrent chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

More than 6 weeks since prior and no concurrent steroid therapy

Radiotherapy

No concurrent radiotherapy

Surgery

See Disease Characteristics

Other

No other concurrent immunosuppressants (e.g., azathioprine or cyclosporine)