A Phase I Study of a HER-2/Neu Peptide Based Vaccine With GM-CSF as an Adjuvant in Patients With Advanced Stage HER-2/Neu Expressing Cancers

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the safety of serial intradermal vaccinations of HER-2/neu derived peptides with sargramostim (GM-CSF) as an adjuvant in patients with stage III or IV HER-2/neu expressing breast, ovarian, or nonsmall cell lung cancer. II. Determine whether immunity can be elicited with peptides derived from the intracellular domain of the HER-2/neu protein. III. Determine whether immunity can be elicited with peptides derived from the extracellular domain of the HER-2/neu protein. IV. Determine whether cytotoxic T cells specific for the HER-2/neu protein can be elicited in patients with HLA-A2 by immunization with peptides derived from the HER-2/neu protein. OUTLINE: Patients receive one of three HER-2/neu peptide vaccine formulations that also contain sargramostim (GM-CSF) as the vaccine adjuvant. Each vaccine is studied in 20 patients. A maximum of 3 patients receive a vaccine each month for 6 months to monitor the potential toxicity associated with sequential immunizations. Patients receive a follow-up evaluation 1 month after the last vaccination. Those patients who have an immune response related to the vaccine will continue to have immunologic evaluations performed every 2 months while immune responses can still be detected. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: 60 patients will be accrued.