Vaccine Therapy and 1-MT in Treating Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• In the phase I patients with any solid tumor positive for p53 by IHC (>= 5% of cells with any degree of nuclear staining) staining; for the phase II, patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed metastatic invasive breast cancer that is positive for p53 staining by IHC (>= 5% of cells with any degree of nuclear staining); patients will sign a separate consent for the p53 testing, and those that meet the above requirements will then be allowed to sign the vaccine trial consent
• Patients must have measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded) as >= 20 mm with conventional techniques or as >= 10 mm with spiral computed tomography (CT) scan
• There are no restrictions on prior therapies for the phase I part of the trial; for the phase II, patients may have received up to 2 prior lines of chemotherapy (not counting endocrine therapy lines) with the last dose of chemotherapy given 3 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas and mitomycin C) prior to initiation on this study
• Life expectancy of greater than 4 months
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status = = 70%)
• Leukocytes >= 3,000/μL
• Absolute neutrophil count >= 1,500/μL
• Platelets >= 100,000/μL
• Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits unless patient has Gilbert's disease
• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) /serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) /alanine aminotransferase (ALT) /serum glutamic pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) = = 60 mL/min/1.73 m^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
• Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) showing normal pituitary function; these values may deviate if in the opinion of the investigator these are normal pituitary responses to another endocrine condition such as suboptimally treated hypothyroidism
• Patients with known brain metastases will only be eligible after their tumors have been treated with definitive resection and/or radiotherapy and they are neurologically stable for at least 1 month off steroids
• No history of gastrointestinal disease causing malabsorption or obstruction such as but not limited to Crohn's disease, celiac sprue, tropical sprue, bacterial overgrowth/blind loop syndrome, gastric bypass surgery, strictures, adhesions, achalasia, bowel obstruction, or extensive small bowel resection
• Sexually active women of child-bearing potential must agree to use two forms of contraception (hormonal and barrier method of birth control or abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; males should use barrier contraception or abstinence during the study; use of contraception or abstinence should continue for a minimum of 1 month after completion of the study; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should discontinue the study drug and inform her treating physician immediately; a pregnancy test is required prior to study enrollment and monthly while on treatment with 1-MT for all women of child-bearing potential; also men should be discouraged from fathering children while on treatment
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 3 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 3 weeks earlier
• Patients may not receive any other investigational agents or chemotherapy to treat their underlying malignancy while on study; patients who are stable on prior endocrine therapies (i.e. aromatase inhibitors, tamoxifen, and fulvestrant) may stay on these treatments
• Patients with known untreated brain metastases are excluded from this cl