Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With HER2/Neu Positive or Negative Stage IV Breast Cancer or Other HER2/Neu Positive Cancers

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically confirmed breast cancer meeting 1 of the following criteria:

  * Recurrent and/or metastatic lesions that are HER2/neu-positive or negative
  * Recurrent or progressive cancer of the lung, ovary, pancreas, prostate, bladder, or other primary site associated with HER2/neu-positive tumor by histochemistry
* Bone-only metastatic breast cancer, cytologically confirmed malignant effusions, histologically confirmed marrow involvement, or other evaluable (but non-measurable) metastatic disease allowed
* Failed prior first-line chemotherapy (e.g., anthracycline- or taxane-based therapy) with or without adjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy
* No curative or reliably effective palliative surgery, radiotherapy, or medical therapy available
* Stable brain metastases allowed provided the following criteria are met\*:

  * Previously treated
  * No concurrent requirement for corticosteroids
  * No radiological or clinical deterioration within the past 6 weeks NOTE: \*Patients who had recent treatment with gamma knife or intensity-modulated radiotherapy for brain metastases are eligible provided there has been recovery from known or anticipated toxic effects
* Patients with no HLA-A2 allele are eligible
* Hormone receptor status:

  * Not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

* 18 and over

Sex

* Female or male

Menopausal status

* Not specified

Performance status

* ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

* At least 4 months

Hematopoietic

* Absolute granulocyte count ≥ 1,000/mm\^3
* Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3

Hepatic

* Bilirubin ≤ 2 mg/dL
* Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* ALT and AST ≤ 2 times ULN

Renal

* BUN ≤ 30 mg/dL
* Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL
* ≤ 1 g protein on 24-hour urine collection OR
* ≤ 1+ proteinuria on urinalysis

Cardiovascular

* Hypertension controlled by agents (except beta-blockers) allowed

Other

* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception
* HIV negative
* No history of anaphylactic reaction to any known or unknown antigen
* No history of clinical hypersensitivity to sargramostim (GM-CSF), interferon, yeast, beef, or to any components used in preparation of study vaccine
* No clinical or laboratory features indicative of AIDS
* No rheumatological, psychiatric, or other clinically progressive major medical problems requiring treatment
* No other malignancy within the past 2 years

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

* More than 3 weeks since prior biological therapy, including trastuzumab (Herceptin\^®)
* More than 3 weeks since prior immunotherapy
* No concurrent immunotherapy

Chemotherapy

* See Disease Characteristics
* More than 3 weeks since prior chemotherapy (8 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin)
* No concurrent chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

* See Disease Characteristics
* More than 3 weeks since prior hormonal therapy
* No concurrent hormonal therapy
* No concurrent systemic steroids

  * Concurrent inhalation steroids for respiratory hypersensitivity (e.g., triamcinolone nasal or pulmonary inhalers) allowed

Radiotherapy

* See Disease Characteristics
* More than 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy
* No concurrent radiotherapy

Surgery

* More than 3 weeks since prior major surgery with general anesthesia
* No concurrent major surgery

Other

* Recovered from prior therapy
* Patients receiving pamidronate, bisphosphonates, or other supportive measures must continue therapy during study participation
* No concurrent anticoagulants
* No concurrent beta-blockers for control of mild hypertension or other indications