TRICOM vaccine(NCI)

Background:
No treatment is known to improve survival for prostate cancer patients who have not been helped by previous treatments with hormones and chemotherapy.
An experimental vaccine called prostate specific antigen (PSA)/TRICOM contains genes for a protein produced by prostate cancer cells called prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The vaccine can trigger the immune system to make cells that may be able to recognize and attack the cancer cells that make PSA.
Granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is an approved drug that is usually given to increase a patient's white blood cell count or to stimulate the immune system.
1Samarium-153-ethylene diamine tetramethylene phosphonate (53Sm-EDTMP) is a radioactive drug that has been approved for many years to treat advanced prostate cancer. It is given through a vein and can be targeted directly to tumors in the bone where it can relieve pain caused by bone lesions. Radiation also increases the level of certain proteins inside the tumor, making it easier for the immune system to find and kill the tumor cells.
When laboratory mice were given just vaccine, just radiation, or a combination of both, the combination was most effective in treating tumors.
Objectives:
-To determine if combined treatment with PSA/TRICOM vaccine and 153Sm-EDTMP radiation can delay progression of prostate cancer better than radiation alone.
Eligibility:
-Patients who have advanced prostate cancer that has worsened despite treatments with hormones, have two or more bone lesions related to their prostate cancer, and have had prior treatment with docetaxel chemotherapy.
Design:
Patients are randomly assigned to receive radiation alone (Arm A) or radiation with vaccine and sargramostim (Arm B).
Arm A receives 153Sm-EDTMP radiation starting on study day 8 and repeated every 12 weeks.
Arm B receives a priming vaccine on study day 1 and radiation on day 8. Radiation therapy is repeated every 12 weeks. Boosting vaccines are given on days 15 and 29 and then monthly. GM-CSF is given with each vaccination (on the day of the vaccination and for the next 3 days) to enhance the immune response. Vaccinations and GM-CSF are given as injections under the skin, usually in the thigh. Radiation therapy is given through a vein.
Patients are monitored regularly with physical examinations, blood and urine tests, and scans to evaluate safety and treatment response.
Patients who are human leukocyte antigen serotype within HLA-A A serotype group (HLA-A2)-positive undergo apheresis, a procedure similar to donating blood, for obtaining immune cells called lymphocytes to measure the immune response to the vaccine.

Vaccines made from a gene-modified virus may help the body build an effective immune response to kill tumor cells. Biological therapies, such as GM-CSF, may stimulate the immune system in different ways and stop tumor cells from growing. Androgens can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Drugs, such as bicalutamide and goserelin, may stop the adrenal glands from making androgens in patients whose tumor cells continue to grow. Giving vaccine therapy together with GM-CSF and, when needed, androgen ablation may be a more effective treatment for prostate cancer. This phase II trial is studying how well giving vaccine therapy together with GM-CSF works in treating patients with prostate cancer that progressed after surgery and/or radiation therapy.