Combination Chemotherapy and Filgrastim or Pegfilgrastim in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Persistent Cancer of the Uterus

Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. Colony-stimulating factors such as filgrastim or pegfilgrastim may increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or peripheral blood and may help a person's immune system recover from the side effects of chemotherapy. This phase II trial is studying how well combination chemotherapy plus filgrastim or pegfilgrastim works in treating patients with recurrent or persistent cancer of the uterus.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the antitumor activity of docetaxel, gemcitabine, and filgrastim (G-CSF) or pegfilgrastim in patients with persistent or recurrent uterine leiomyosarcoma. II. Determine the nature and degree of toxicity of this regimen in these patients. OUTLINE: Patients receive gemcitabine IV over 90 minutes on days 1 and 8, docetaxel IV over 1 hour on day 8, and filgrastim (G-CSF) subcutaneously (SC) on days 9-15 or pegfilgrastim SC on day 9 only. Courses repeat every 3 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 19-51 patients will be accrued for this study within 10-24 months.