Valproic Acid in Treating Patients With Kaposi's Sarcoma

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed HIV-related Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)
• * Disease involving the skin and/or lymph nodes
• * No symptomatic visceral disease
• * No oral KS as the only site of disease
• * Slowly progressive or stable disease allowed
• * Slow progression defined as fewer than 5 new lesions per month
• * Must have documented HIV infection by positive ELISA, western Blot, or viral load determination
• CD4 T-cell count \> 50/mm\^3
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age
• 18 and over
• Performance status
• Karnofsky 60-100%
• Life expectancy
• At least 3 months
• Hematopoietic
• Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 750/mm\^3
• Platelet count ≥ 75,000/mm\^3
• Hepatic
• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)\*
• AST and ALT ≤ 3 times ULN
• Albumin \> 2.5 g/dL NOTE: \*Elevated total bilirubin (≤ 3.5 mg/dL) secondary to indinavir therapy allowed provided the direct bilirubin is normal
• Renal
• Creatinine \< 1.5 times ULN
• Cardiovascular
• No prior myocardial infarction
• No evidence of cardiac ischemia
• Other
• Not pregnant
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after study participation
• No prior lactic acidosis \> 2.0 mmoles/L
• No prior lipoatrophy or hypercholesterolemia secondary to retroviral treatment
• No concurrent, acute, active opportunistic infection other than oral thrush or genital herpes within the past 14 days
• No other concurrent neoplasm requiring cytotoxic therapy
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy
• More than 2 weeks since prior biologic therapy for KS
• Chemotherapy
• More than 2 weeks since prior chemotherapy for KS
• No concurrent systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy
• Endocrine therapy
• Not specified
• Radiotherapy
• More than 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy for KS
• Surgery
• Not specified
• Other
• More than 2 weeks since other prior antineoplastic or local therapy for KS
• More than 2 weeks since prior investigational therapy for KS
• More than 60 days since prior local therapy to a KS-marker lesion unless lesion has clearly progressed since therapy
• More than 1 year since prior valproic acid
• Concurrent antiretroviral therapy allowed provided regimen has been stable for at least 4 weeks
• No concurrent zidovudine
• No other concurrent KS-specific therapy
• No other concurrent investigational drugs, other than IND-approved antiretroviral agents