• Overall survival from time of registration to time of death [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Disease-free survival from time of registration to documentation of disease progression [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Safety profile as measured by occurrence of toxicity from registration until within 30 days of completion of treatment [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
• Duration of PSA response and PSA control as measured by PSA level from time of documented PSA response or control until response changes [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Partial and complete response rates as measured by RECIST every 8 weeks [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Correlation of changes in expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), maspin and NF-kappaB in serum and tissue at baseline, day 15, and at time of treatment failure [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Correlation of biomarkers with cancer and treatment-related outcomes by expression levels of IL-6, maspin, and NF-kappaB in serum and tissue at baseline, day 15, and at time of treatment failure [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

• Overall survival from time of registration to time of death
• Disease-free survival from time of registration to documentation of disease progression
• Safety profile as measured by occurrence of toxicity from registration until within 30 days of completion of treatment
• Duration of PSA response and PSA control as measured by PSA level from time of documented PSA response or control until response changes
• Partial and complete response rates as measured by RECIST every 8 weeks
• Correlation of changes in expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), maspin and NF-kappaB in serum and tissue at baseline, day 15, and at time of treatment failure
• Correlation of biomarkers with cancer and treatment-related outcomes by expression levels of IL-6, maspin, and NF-kappaB in serum and tissue at baseline, day 15, and at time of treatment failure

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as 17-AAG, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well 17-AAG works in treating patients with metastatic prostate cancer that did not respond to previous hormone therapy.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Determine the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response in patients with hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer treated with 17-N-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG).

Secondary

• Determine the overall survival and disease-free survival rate in patients treated with this drug.
• Determine the safety profile of this drug in these patients.
• Determine the duration of PSA response and PSA control in patients treated with this drug.
• Determine the partial and complete response rates in patients with measurable disease treated with this drug.
• Correlate changes in expression levels of interleukin-6, maspin, and NF-kappaB in serum and tissue with cancer and treatment-related outcomes in patients treated with this drug.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Patients receive 17-N-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) IV over 2-6 hours on days 1, 8, and 15. Courses repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients who achieve a complete response (CR) receive 2 additional courses of treatment beyond documentation of CR.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year and then every 6 months for 3 years.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 16-28 patients will be accrued for this study within 20 months.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate

  • Metastatic disease

• Measurable or evaluable disease

  • Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) ≥ 5 ng/mL OR new areas of bony metastases on bone scan are required for patients with no measurable disease

• Objective disease progression OR rising PSA despite receiving androgen deprivation therapy and undergoing antiandrogen withdrawal

  • Patients with a rising PSA must have 2 successive elevations (measured ≥ 1 week apart)

• Must be castrate (testosterone < 50 ng/mL)

  • Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy must be continued during study participation to maintain castrate levels of testosterone
• Must have received ≥ 1 prior chemotherapy regimen for metastatic disease

• No known brain metastases requiring active therapy

  • Previously treated asymptomatic brain metastases allowed

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

• At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic

• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
• Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL

Hepatic

• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• SGOT and/or SGPT ≤ 2.5 times ULN AND alkaline phosphatase normal OR
• Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 4 times ULN AND SGOT and/or SGPT normal

Renal

• Creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min OR
• Creatinine normal

Cardiovascular

• QTc < 450 msec for male patients
• LVEF > 40% by MUGA
• EF normal by MUGA if prior anthracycline therapy
• No congenital long QT syndrome
• No left bundle branch block
• Deep venous thrombosis or other clinically significant thromboembolic event within the past 6 months allowed provided patient is clinically stable on anticoagulation therapy
• No history of serious ventricular arrhythmia (i.e., ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation ≥ 3 beats in a row)
• No myocardial infarction within the past year
• No cerebrovascular accident or transient ischemic attack within the past 6 months
• No New York Heart Association class III or IV congestive heart failure
• No poorly controlled angina
• No uncontrolled dysrhythmia or dysrhythmias requiring medication
• No active ischemic heart disease within the past 12 months
• No other significant cardiac disease

Pulmonary

• Pulmonary embolus allowed within the past 6 months provided patient is clinically stable on anticoagulation therapy

Other

• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• Willing and able to provide blood samples
• No serious allergy (i.e., hypotension, dyspnea, anaphylaxis, or edema) to eggs
• No other concurrent malignancy or history of a curatively treated malignancy with a survival prognosis of < 5 years
• No known HIV positivity
• No active infection
• No other severe acute or chronic medical or psychiatric condition or laboratory abnormality that would preclude study participation

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• Not specified

Chemotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics

Endocrine therapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• At least 4 weeks since prior flutamide (6 weeks for bicalutamide or nilutamide)

Radiotherapy

• At least 28 days since prior radiotherapy
• No prior radiotherapy field that included the heart (e.g., mantle)

Surgery

• More than 6 months since prior coronary or peripheral artery bypass grafting

Other

• More than 28 days since prior investigational agents for prostate cancer
• No concurrent agents that interact with cytochrome P450 3A4

• No concurrent warfarin for anticoagulation

  • Concurrent low molecular weight heparin injection allowed
• No concurrent medications that would prolong QTc
• No other concurrent antineoplastic agents
• Concurrent zoledronate for bone metastases or hypercalcemia allowed