Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With Kidney Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically confirmed renal cell carcinoma * Patients with minimal disease burden are eligible provided they meet one or more of the following criteria: * Prior nephrectomy and completely resected metastases * Favorable-risk group, as defined by all of the following criteria: * Karnofsky 80-100% * Hemoglobin ≥ 13 g/dL (male) or ≥ 12 g/dL (female) * Corrected calcium ≤ 10 mg/dL * Prior nephrectomy * Serum lactate dehydrogenase ≤ 200 μ/L * Prior nephrectomy with metastases confined to lung and/or small volume metastatic disease (\< 3 cm) exclusive of bone and liver * No spinal, epidural, or CNS lesions * No bone, liver or brain disease PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age * 18 and over Performance status * See Disease Characteristics * Karnofsky 80-100% Life expectancy * Not specified Hematopoietic * See Disease Characteristics * WBC ≥ 3,500/mm\^3 * Hemoglobin ≥ 12.0 g/dL * Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3 Hepatic * Bilirubin \< 2.0 mg/dL * SGOT \< 3.0 times upper limit of normal Renal * See Disease Characteristics * Creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL OR * Creatinine clearance ≥ 40 mL/min Cardiovascular * No clinically significant cardiac disease * No New York Heart Association class III or IV heart disease Pulmonary * No severe debilitating pulmonary disease Other * Fertile patients must use effective contraception * No other active secondary malignancy within the past 5 years except non-melanoma skin cancer * No infection requiring antibiotic treatment * No narcotic- or steroid-dependent pain PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy * Not specified Chemotherapy * At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy Endocrine therapy * At least 4 weeks since prior corticosteroid therapy Radiotherapy * At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy * No concurrent radiotherapy to only measurable lesion Surgery * See Disease Characteristics * No concurrent surgery Other * Recovered from all prior therapy * No other concurrent anticancer therapy