OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the response rates, duration of response, and survival in women with advanced, recurrent, or inoperable cervical cancer treated with interleukin-12. II. Determine the toxic effects of systemic interleukin-12 in these patients. III. Correlate response to therapy and survival with the presence or absence of human papilloma virus (HPV), and the specific subtype of HPV, in these patients.