Vaccine Therapy in Treating Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically proven metastatic breast cancer

  * Stage IV disease patients who have either been treated to maximal response or who have had high dose chemotherapy or a marrow ablative regimen (if they meet immunologic criteria and have not received more than 2 chemotherapy regimens for treatment of metastatic disease)
  * Patients with advanced stage disease who:

    * Received at least 1 standard chemotherapy regimen, but no more than 2, for treatment of metastatic disease
    * Refused chemotherapy
    * Refused or progressed despite hormonal therapy
* Measurable or evaluable disease
* Positive or negative for HLA-A2
* Must have superficial inguinal or axillary lymph nodes that are free of tumor involvement and are surgically accessible
* No symptomatic or acutely life threatening tumor that is judged likely to require intervention with alternative modalities within 3 months
* No brain metastases
* Hormone receptor status:

  * Not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

* 18 and over

Sex:

* Female

Menopausal status:

* Not specified

Performance status:

* ECOG 0 or 1

Life expectancy:

* Not specified

Hematopoietic:

* WBC greater than 3,000/mm\^3

Hepatic:

* Not specified

Renal:

* BUN less than 25 mg/dL
* Creatinine less than 1.8 mg/dL

Cardiovascular:

* No ischemic or congestive cardiac disease requiring chronic medication
* No New York Heart Association class III or IV heart disease
* No evidence of ischemic change or ventricular ectopy (greater than 4/min) on electrocardiogram (EKG)
* No evidence of type II arterial-ventricular block
* No evidence of current cardiac disease by stress test and EKG

Other:

* HIV negative
* No active infection requiring treatment
* No psychiatric illness
* No history of seizure disorder
* No other prior malignancy within the past 10 years except squamous cell or basal cell skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

* At least 4 weeks since prior specific or nonspecific immunotherapy, unless there is obvious progression of metastatic disease, and recovered

Chemotherapy:

* See Disease Characteristics
* At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy, unless there is obvious progression of metastatic disease, and recovered

Endocrine therapy:

* At least 4 weeks since prior steroids, unless there is obvious progression of metastatic disease, and recovered

Radiotherapy:

* Concurrent radiotherapy allowed for local control of disease

Surgery:

* Not specified