The purpose of this study is to use dendritic cells transfected with amplified RNA from autologous tumor cells to develop a vaccine strategy for the treatment of prostate cancer in patients with disseminated disease.
The specific aims are: 1) to evaluate, in a phase I clinical trial, the safety of vaccinating patients with dendritic cells transfected with RNA from autologous cancer cells; 2) to analyze the T cell responses induced by the treatment; and 3) to improve the efficacy of the treatment by developing methods to increase the induction of CD4+T cell responses.
Patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer stages D1 - D3 are eligible for this study. They must not have a history of autoimmune disease, serious intercurrent chronic or acute illness, pulmonary disease, active hepatitis, serologic evidence for HIV, or be receiving corticosteroid or immunosuppressive therapy.
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients will be excluded from the study if they have received chemotherapy or other forms of immunotherapy in the 6 weeks prior to study entry.
