RATIONALE: Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Giving vaccine therapy before and/or after chemotherapy and radiation therapy may cause a stronger immune response.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase I/II trial is studying the side effects of two regimens of vaccine therapy and to see how well they work in treating women who are receiving neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant radiation therapy for stage III breast cancer that overexpresses p53.

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the safety and toxicity of two different schedules of vaccination comprising p53-infected autologous dendritic cells in women with p53-overexpressing stage III breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant radiotherapy.
• Determine the immune response, in terms of humoral and cellular response, in patients treated with these regimens.
• Determine antigen-specific immune responses in patients treated with these regimens.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, open-label study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

All patients undergo apheresis for the collection of peripheral blood monocytes that are cultured with interleukin-4 and sargramostim (GM-CSF) to produce dendritic cells. The dendritic cells are infected with a recombinant adenoviral vector containing the wild-type p53 gene.

Patients receive doxorubicin IV and cyclophosphamide IV every 2 weeks for 8 weeks (4 courses) followed 2 weeks later by paclitaxel IV every 2 weeks for 8 weeks (4 courses). Patients with stage III disease then undergo surgery. Three weeks after completion of paclitaxel (or after surgery for patients with stage III disease), patients undergo radiotherapy once daily for 6.5 weeks. Patients are then receive vaccine therapy as per the arm to which they were randomized.

• Arm I: Patients receive vaccination comprising p53-infected autologous dendritic cells subcutaneously (SC) 1 week after completion of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, 1 week after completion of paclitaxel (or after surgery for patients with stage III disease), and at 6 and 12 weeks after completion of radiotherapy (for a total of 4 vaccinations).
• Arm II: Patients receive vaccination comprising p53-infected autologous dendritic cells SC at 6, 8, 10, and 12 weeks after completion of radiotherapy.

Treatment in both arms continues in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.

Patients are followed at 1 month, every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 20-50 patients (10-25 per treatment arm) will be accrued for this study within 2 years.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer meeting the following criteria:

  • Clinically locally advanced disease (stage III) with a primary tumor at least 4 cm by mammogram, ultrasound, or palpation AND/OR palpable axillary nodes larger than 1 cm
  • Planned neoadjuvant chemotherapy

• p53-overexpressing tumor by immunohistochemistry

• Delayed-type hypersensitivity to at least 1 of 3 standard antigens

• Female

• ECOG 0-1

• WBC > 4,000/mm^3

• Platelet count > 100,000/mm^3

• Bilirubin < 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)

• Hepatitis B surface antigen negative

• Hepatitis C antibody negative

• Creatinine < 2 times ULNHIV negative

• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for at least 6 months after study participation

Exclusion Criteria:

• No prior or concurrent autoimmune disorder
• Not pregnant or nursing/negative pregnancy test
• No other concurrent illness that would preclude study participation
• No prior chemotherapy
• No concurrent participation in another therapeutic clinical trial

Adverse Events will be collected from the time the subject signs the consent form and ending 4 weeks following the final (typically the fourth) vaccine. For Arm A is approximately 5 months. For Arm B is approximately 6 months.