DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed pancreatic adenocarcinoma

  • Stage III disease

    • Documented disease progression after failing prior primary therapy
  • Stage IV disease
• Not a candidate for potentially curative resection

• Measurable disease

  • At least 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion > 1.5 cm by CT scan
• No bulky disease, defined as any single mass > 10 cm in its greatest dimension
• No known CNS metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• Karnofsky 70-100%

Life expectancy

• At least 3 months

Hematopoietic

• Hemoglobin ≥ 10 g/dL*
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3*
• Platelet count ≥ 150,000/mm^3* NOTE: *No ongoing transfusion support

Hepatic

• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• AST and ALT ≤ 2.0 times ULN
• No known hepatitis B or C positivity

Renal

• Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN

Cardiovascular

• No active coronary artery disease within the past 6 months
• No unstable angina within the past 6 months
• No myocardial infarction within the past 6 months
• No congestive heart failure within the past 6 months
• No cardiac arrhythmia requiring anti-arrhythmia therapy

Pulmonary

• No active chronic obstructive pulmonary disease within the past 6 months
• No other moderate-to-severe respiratory illness within the past 6 months

Gastrointestinal

• No anorexia > grade 2
• No nausea or vomiting
• No signs of intestinal obstruction

Immunologic

• No known HIV positivity

• No autoimmune disease or autoimmune phenomena

  • Rheumatoid arthritis requiring only low-dose maintenance corticosteroids allowed
• No infection requiring IV antibiotics within the past week

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 12 weeks after study treatment
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• No other medical or psychiatric condition that would preclude study participation

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• See Radiotherapy
• More than 4 weeks since prior biologic therapy
• No prior antibody-based therapies (i.e., murine, chimeric, humanized, or human antibodies)
• No concurrent prophylactic sargramostim (GM-CSF) or filgrastim (G-CSF)
• No other concurrent biologic therapy*

Chemotherapy

• No more than 1 prior chemotherapy regimen for stage IV disease
• More than 4 weeks since other prior chemotherapy
• No prior nitrosoureas or dactinomycin
• No concurrent chemotherapy*

Endocrine therapy

• More than 2 weeks since prior corticosteroids, except low-dose steroids (i.e., 20 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent) to treat nausea or other illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis

• No concurrent corticosteroids, except if medically necessary

  • Concurrent low-dose steroids (i.e., 20 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent) for nausea or as maintenance therapy for other illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis allowed

Radiotherapy

• More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No prior radioimmunotherapy
• No prior external-beam radiotherapy to > 30% of the red marrow
• No prior radiotherapy dose > 3,000 cGy to the liver
• No prior radiotherapy dose > 2,000 cGy to the lungs and kidneys
• No prior radiotherapy at a maximal tolerable level to any organ
• No concurrent radiotherapy*

Surgery

• More than 4 weeks since prior major surgery
• No concurrent major surgery*

Other

• Recovered from all prior therapy (toxicity ≤ grade 1)
• More than 4 weeks since prior experimental treatment (i.e., drugs or procedures)
• No other concurrent experimental treatment* NOTE: *Except for patients who progress at the 4- or 8-week study assessment; further treatment may be administered at the discretion of the managing physician