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

Inclusion Criteria

• •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