Neoadjuvant Intravesical Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Bladder Carcinoma Who Are Undergoing Cystectomy

Inclusion Criteria: Patients must have a histologically documented bladder cancer including: transitional cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, or squamous cell carcinoma including carcinoma in situ (CIS) requiring cystectomy as a standard therapy for his/her tumor stage and be scheduled for this surgical procedure; patients should not be candidates for neoadjuvant chemotherapy Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-1 Estimated life expectancy 6 or more months Prior therapy with intravesical Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and/or chemotherapy is allowed; patient must be at least 2 months beyond the instillation of any prior intravesical agent; patients should not have received systemic chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy or systemic doses of steroids for at least 4 weeks prior to starting vaccination and have recovered from all acute toxicities of previous treatment; patients who have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy to the bladder will be ineligible for this study Serum creatinine < 1.5 mg/dl or a creatinine clearance > 60 ml/min Bilirubin < 2.0 mg/dl Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) < 2 x normal range Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) > 1500/mm^3 Platelets > 75000/mm^3 Patients must not have known immunodeficiency disorder (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS], severe combined immunodeficiency [SCID], Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, etc.); study candidates will not be specifically screened for these, unless clinically indicated; if indicated, the referring physician will do the evaluation No active/uncontrolled infections Pregnant women or nursing mothers are ineligible; women with reproductive potential must have negative pregnancy test and are prohibited from sexual intercourse during this study (while receiving vaccine and at least 1 month following last dose); sexual abstinence (as opposed to contraception only) is necessary; similarly, male patients also must avoid sex for the same period as above No uncontrolled psychiatric illness or medical illness that the principal investigator feels will compromise the patient's tolerance of the study treatment Patients must be informed of the investigational nature of this study and must give written informed consent in accordance with institutional and federal guidelines; patients who cannot provide informed consent will not be eligible for the study Exclusion Criteria: Altered immune-competence: Current or imminent steroid therapy or active antibiotic therapy (antibiotics given for prophylaxis are allowed) Immune deficiency disease or immunosuppressive therapy in the patient Present or history of an autoimmune disease in the patient (e.g. autoimmune neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, or hemolytic anemia; systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren syndrome, or scleroderma; myasthenia gravis; Goodpasture syndrome; Addison's disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, active Graves' disease, or other diseases which qualify as autoimmune in origin) History of allergy to eggs as this vaccine is manufactured in chicken embryo cells Patients with any presence of liver function abnormalities, exposure to toxins, ongoing alcohol consumption, history of liver disease and/or history of hepatitis that may suggest persistent disease Any concurrent active second malignancy or any malignant tumor within the prior 5 years with the exception of a superficial squamous or basal cell skin carcinoma or in situ carcinoma of the cervix or prostate Pregnancy Patients with active ischemic heart disease (i.e. class III or IV cardiac disease-New York Heart Association), a recent history of myocardial infarction (within the last 6 months), history of congestive heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias or other arrhythmias requiring therapy