DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the colon metastatic to the liver that expresses carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) after resection with curative intent

  • At least 50% of the tumor cells must stain positive for CEA with at least moderate intensity
• No gross residual disease after surgery

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• Karnofsky 70-100%

Life expectancy:

• Greater than 6 months

Hematopoietic:

• Absolute neutrophil count at least 1000/mm 3
• Hemoglobin at least 9 g/dL
• Platelet count at least 100,000/mm^3

Hepatic:

• Bilirubin less than 2.0 mg/dL
• No chronic or acute hepatic disease

Renal:

• Creatinine less than 2.5 mg/dL

Cardiovascular:

• No chronic or acute cardiac disease (New York Heart Association class III or IV)

Pulmonary:

• No chronic or acute pulmonary illness such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Other:

• Not pregnant or nursing
• No other prior or concurrent malignancy except nonmelanoma skin cancer or controlled superficial bladder cancer within the past 5 years
• No history of autoimmune disease such as inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, and multiple sclerosis
• No active acute or chronic infection such as urinary tract infection, HIV, or viral hepatitis
• No active infectious enteritis or eosinophilic enteritis

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• No other concurrent immunotherapy

Chemotherapy:

• No concurrent chemotherapy
• At least 6 weeks since prior chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy:

• No concurrent steroid therapy (or any other immunosuppressives)
• At least 6 weeks since prior steroid therapy

Radiotherapy:

• No concurrent radiotherapy
• At least 6 weeks since prior radiotherapy

Surgery:

• Recovered from prior surgery