Tipifarnib in Treating Patients With Metastatic Malignant Melanoma

You may be eligible if

• Histological or cytological diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma and clinical evidence of distant metastatic, non-resectable regional lymphatic, or extensive in transit recurrent disease
• Patients must have at least 2 cutaneous lesions amenable to excisional biopsy for correlative studies; in addition, patients must have measurable disease; the disease remaining after the first excisional biopsy must be measurable; lesions that are considered intrinsically non-measurable include the following:
• * Bone lesions
• * Leptomeningeal disease
• * Ascites
• * Pleural/pericardial effusion
• * Lymphangitis cutis/pulmonis
• * Abdominal masses that are not confirmed and followed by imaging techniques
• * Cystic lesions
• * Lesions that are situated in a previously irradiated area
• No history of brain metastases
• No allergies to azoles (e.g. ketoconazole) or allergies to compounds structurally similar to R115777
• No more than 1 prior immunotherapy regimen for treatment of advanced melanoma; an additional immunologic therapy in the adjuvant setting (e.g. IFN-a) is acceptable; prior chemotherapy for any stage of melanoma is not allowed
• * No radiotherapy or immunotherapy within four weeks prior to the initiation of therapy on this study
• CTC (ECOG) performance status 0-1
• Non-pregnant, non-nursing; treatment under this protocol would expose an unborn child to significant risks; women and men of reproductive potential should agree to use an effective means of birth control; women of child-bearing age will undergo pregnancy testing
• ANC \>= 1500/uL
• Platelets \>= 100,000/uL
• Bilirubin =\< 1.5 mg/dL
• Creatinine =\< 2.0 mg/dL