Paclitaxel and Carboplatin in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed collecting duct renal cell carcinoma
• * Advanced locally recurrent or metastatic disease
• * Not amenable to resection
• Measurable disease
• No active CNS metastases
• * Patients with CNS metastases previously treated with surgical resection and/or radiotherapy are eligible provided there is no evidence of disease progression by head CT scan or MRI at 3 months after the completion of definitive therapy
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age
• 18 and over
• Performance status
• ECOG 0-2
• Life expectancy
• Not specified
• Hematopoietic
• WBC ≥ 3,000/mm\^3
• Absolute granulocyte count ≥ 1,500/mm\^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3
• Hepatic
• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN
• Renal
• Creatinine ≤ 2 times ULN
• Other
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• No peripheral neuropathy greater than grade 1
• No other prior malignancy except for curatively treated cancer from which the patient has been disease-free for the length of time considered appropriate for cure of the specific cancer
• No known hypersensitivity to Cremophor EL
• No active serious infection
• No other serious underlying medical condition that would preclude study therapy
• No dementia or significantly altered mental status that would preclude giving informed consent
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy
• No more than 2 prior biologic response modifier (BRM) regimens
• * Regimens may have included interleukin-2 and/or interferon alfa
• At least 4 weeks since prior BRM therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Not specified
• Endocrine therapy
• Concurrent corticosteroids allowed
• Radiotherapy
• See Disease Characteristics
• Prior radiotherapy allowed provided there is measurable disease that has not been irradiated OR there is clear evidence of tumor progression in an irradiated site
• At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No concurrent external beam radiotherapy
• Surgery
• See Disease Characteristics
• No concurrent major surgery
• Other
• No other concurrent anticancer drugs