RATIONALE: Activating white blood cells in the laboratory may help them kill more cancer cells when they are put back in the body. This may be an effective treatment for patients undergoing a stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma.

PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects of activated white blood cells and to see how well they work in treating patients who are undergoing a stem cell transplant for newly diagnosed stage II or stage III multiple myeloma.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Evaluate the safety and response rate of activated marrow infiltrating lymphocytes (aMILs) in patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for newly diagnosed, stage II-III multiple myeloma.
• Determine the overall in vitro fold-expansion and assess pre- and post-expansion for myeloma T-cell specificity in assessing the feasibility of generating aMILs from myeloma patients.
• Assess the toxicity of aMILs.
• Evaluate the effect of aMILs on hematopoietic engraftment, including neutrophil engraftment, platelet engraftment, and primary graft failure (if failure occurs).
• Evaluate response rates utilizing the Blade criteria, including the complete response (CR) rate, near complete response (nCR) rate, very good partial response (VGPR) rate, partial response (PR) rate, minimal response (MR) rate, and overall response rate (CR, VGPR, PR, MR).

Secondary

• Evaluate T-cell reconstitution, including absolute lymphocyte counts, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T-cell counts.
• Evaluate progression-free survival and overall survival.
• Evaluate anti-tumor immune response.
• Determine pneumococcal-specific vaccine responses.
• Determine delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses.

OUTLINE: Patients undergo collection of marrow infiltrating lymphocytes (MILs)* either at diagnosis prior to the initiation of induction therapy or upon completion of induction therapy. The MILs bone marrow product undergo ex vivo activation and expansion of T cells for 7-8 days to produce activated marrow infiltrating lymphocytes (aMILs). Patients then undergo stem cell mobilization and leukapheresis to collect the peripheral blood stem cells 12 days after mobilization. Patients receive melphalan IV over 20-30 minutes on days -2 and -1 and undergo a peripheral blood stem cell transplantation on day 0 as planned. Patients receive aMILs infusion on day 3. Patients receive pneumococcal polyvalent vaccine on day 21.

NOTE: *Patients who have completed induction therapy receive pneumococcal polyvalent vaccine approximately 2 weeks prior to MILs collection; patients undergoing MILs collection prior to starting induction therapy do not receive a pre-transplantation vaccine.

Blood and bone marrow samples are collected periodically for laboratory correlative studies.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed periodically for up to 1 year.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of multiple myeloma

  • Newly diagnosed disease
  • Durie-Salmon stage II or III disease

• Measurable disease, defined by any of the following:

  • Measurable serum and/or urine M-protein levels documented and available prior to induction therapy
  • Positive serum free light chain assay

• Must have completed a minimum of 3 courses of myeloma specific therapy

• Candidate for autologous stem cell transplantation

• Patients who have achieved a complete remission at the time of bone marrow harvest for marrow infiltrating lymphocytes (MILs) expansion are not eligible

• No evidence of spinal cord compression

• Diagnosis of the following cancers are not allowed:

  • POEMS syndrome (plasma cell dyscrasia with polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal protein and skin changes)
  • Non-secretory myeloma (no measurable protein on serum free light chain assay)
  • Plasma cell leukemia

• No amyloidosis

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status 0-2

• Life expectancy ≥ 6 months

• Not pregnant or nursing

• Negative pregnancy test

• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and up to day 180

• Corrected serum calcium < 11 mg/dL and no evidence of symptomatic hypercalcemia

• Total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 times upper limit of normal (ULN)

• ALT ≤ 2.0 times ULN

• Serum creatinine < 2.0 mg/dL

• No history of other malignancy within the past 5 years, except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer

• No history of autoimmune disease (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus) requiring systemic treatment

  • Hypothyroidism without evidence of Graves' disease or Hashimoto thyroiditis is allowed

• No infection requiring treatment with antibiotics, antifungal, or antiviral agents within the past 7 days

• No HIV infection

• No major organ system dysfunction including, but not limited to, the following:

  • New York Heart Association class III or IV congestive heart failure
  • Pulmonary disease requiring the use of inhaled steroids or bronchodilators
  • Renal, hepatic, gastrointestinal, neurologic, or psychiatric dysfunction that would impair ability to participate in the study

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics

• No prior hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

• At least 3 weeks since prior corticosteroids (i.e., glucocorticoids)

• At least 3 weeks since prior myeloma-specific therapy

• At least 4 weeks since participation in any clinical trial that involved an investigational drug or device

• No concurrent therapy with any of the following:

  • Corticosteroids (e.g., hydrocortisone, prednisone, prednisolone, dexamethasone [Decadron])

    • Inhaled steroids used for treatment of allergic rhinitis or pulmonary disease allowed

  • Thalidomide

  • Interferon

  • Growth factors, interleukins, or other cytokines (except filgrastim [G-CSF] as outlined in the protocol, or erythropoietin)

  • Cytotoxic chemotherapy agents (except cyclophosphamide for stem cell mobilization and high-dose melphalan)

  • Immunosuppressive drugs

  • Experimental therapies

  • Radiotherapy

Up to Day 360

Per protocol, only adverse events (AEs) that were attributed to the study product (MILs) were collected and reported. AEs were collected daily through the date of engraftment, weekly through Day 28, and then at Days 60, 180, and 360.