Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic, Progressive Prostate Cancer

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