Intermittent Chemotherapy With or Without Granulocyte-macrophage Colony-stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) for Metastatic Hormone Refractory Prostate Cancer (HRPC)

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age over 18 years 2. Histologically documented adenocarcinoma of the prostate 3. Progressive metastatic prostate cancer 4. Castrate levels of testosterone (\<50 ng/ml) must be maintained 5. Prior hormonal therapy or medications : Patients who are receiving an anti-androgen, secondary hormonal therapy (i.e. ketoconazole, aminoglutethimide, megestrol acetate, diethylstilbestrol), 5-alpha reductase inhibitor (i.e. finasteride (Proscar), dutasteride (Avodart)) or herbal prostate medication (i.e. saw palmetto, PC-SPES, PC-PLUS) must discontinue the drug by the date of initiation of chemotherapy on study 6. ≥ 4 weeks since major surgery and fully recovered 7. ≥ 4 weeks since any prior radiation with any toxicity attributable to radiation resolved to ≤grade 1 8. ≥ 8 weeks since the last dose of strontium or samarium 9. Sexually active patients must agree to use adequate contraception 10. Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 60% 11. Life expectancy \>12 weeks 12. Required initial laboratory values Absolute neutrophil count \> 1500/ul Platelets \> 100,000/ul Hemoglobin \> 8.0 g/dl Creatinine ≤ 2.0 X upper limit of normal Bilirubin ≤upper limit of normal (ULN) aspartate aminotransferase (AST) / alanine aminotransferase (ALT) / alkaline phosphatase: AST AND ALT AND alkaline phosphatase must be within the range allowing for eligibility In determining eligibility, the more abnormal of the 2 values (AST or ALT should be used. An abnormal alkaline phosphatase must be attributed to liver dysfunction and not metastatic bone involvement (i.e elevated gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) or evidence of liver metastases) Inclusion criteria for late enrolling patients: 1. Age over 18 years 2. Histologically documented adenocarcinoma of the prostate 3. ≤3 cycles of prior docetaxel chemotherapy for metastatic disease permitted prior to enrollment 4. Docetaxel must have been administered on an every 3 week schedule 5. Each docetaxel dose must have been between 60 and 75 mg/m2 6. Castrate levels of testosterone \<50 ng/mL 7. Daily use of other steroids (hydrocortisone, dexamethasone) instead of prednisone or no steroids, is permitted up until time of enrollment 8. A Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level must have been documented within 6 weeks of initiating docetaxel chemotherapy Exclusion Criteria: 1. Prior systemic chemotherapy for prostate cancer, other than q 3-week docetaxel/prednisone. Prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy is permitted if there was no evidence of disease relapse within 12 months of the last dose of chemotherapy. 2. \>3 cycles of q3 week docetaxel/prednisone chemotherapy has already been administered to the patient 3. Peripheral neuropathy \>grade 1 4. Prior immunotherapy including systemic GM-CSF or vaccines utilizing GM-CSF; prior G-CSF support of chemotherapy-related neutropenia is permitted 5. Prior biologic agents (i.e.,anti-angiogenic agents, anti-Epithelial Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) inhibitors)≤ 4 weeks prior to registration 6. More than two prior therapies with an investigational agent, completed ≤ 4 weeks prior to enrollment (no prior immunotherapeutics are allowed) 7. Myocardial infarction or significant change in anginal pattern within the last 6 months, symptomatic congestive heart failure (NYHA Class III or higher) or uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia 8. Because patients with immune deficiency are at increased risk of lethal infections when treated with marrow-suppressive therapy, HIV-positive patients receiving combination anti-retroviral therapy are excluded 9. Patients with a history of severe hypersensitivity reaction to docetaxel or other drugs formulated with polysorbate 80 will be excluded 10. Poorly controlled diabetes (fasting blood glucose \>250) despite optimization of medical therapy Exclusion criteria for late enrolling patients: 1. Prior immunotherapy including systemic GM-CSF or vaccines utilizing GM-CSF; prior G-CSF support for chemotherapy-related neutropenia is permitted 2. Delay of ≥6 weeks between any 2 chemotherapy cycles prior to enrollment on study 3. Cumulative delays ≥8 weeks between chemotherapy cycles prior to enrollment on study