Alvespimycin Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Metastatic or Unresectable Solid Tumors

You may be eligible if

• Histologically confirmed solid tumor, including, but not limited to, the following:
• * Prostate
• * Breast
• * Ovary
• * Colon
• * Kidney
• * Head and neck
• * Stomach
• * Melanoma
• Metastatic or unresectable disease
• No standard curative or palliative therapy exists or is no longer effective
• Progressive disease as indicated by the following:
• * Non-prostate cancer
• * New lesions or increase in pre-existing lesions on bone scintigraphy, CT scan, MRI, or by physical examination
• * No increase in biochemical markers (e.g., carcinoembryonic antigen or CA-15-3) or symptoms as sole evidence of disease progression
• * Prostate cancer
• * Must have castrate metastatic disease (i.e., disease progression after castration or treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone \[GnRH\] analog)
• * Patients who have not undergone surgical orchiectomy must continue with medical therapy (i.e., GnRH analogs) to maintain castrate levels of serum testosterone \< 50 ng/dL
• * Patients who received an antiandrogen as part of first-line hormonal therapy must show disease progression after discontinuing treatment
• * Progressive metastatic disease on imaging studies (e.g., bone scan, CT scan, or MRI) OR metastatic disease and a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) allowed
• * Biochemical progression is defined as a minimum of 3 rising PSA values from baseline obtained at least 1 week apart OR 2 rising PSA values obtained more than 1 month apart, with \>= 25% increase in value
• No active brain metastases
• Hormone receptor status:
• * Not specified
• Male or female
• Performance status - Karnofsky 70-100%
• Performance status - ECOG 0-1
• More than 6 months
• WBC \>= 3, 000/mm\^3
• Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1, 500/mm\^3
• Platelet count \>= 100,000/mm\^3
• Bilirubin =\< 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• AST and ALT \< 1.5 times ULN
• PT normal
• Creatinine =\< 1.4 mg/dL
• Creatinine clearance \> 55 mL/min
• QTc \< 450 msec for male patients (470 msec for female patients)
• LVEF \> 40% by MUGA
• No history of serious ventricular arrhythmia (i.e., ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation \>= 3 beats in a row)
• No myocardial infarction within the past year
• No active ischemic heart disease within the past year
• No New York Heart Association class III or IV congestive heart failure
• No congenital long QT syndrome
• No left bundle branch block
• No poorly controlled angina
• No history of uncontrolled dysrhythmias or requiring antiarrhythmic drugs
• * Calcium blockers and beta blockers allowed
• No other significant cardiac disease
• Oxygen saturation \> 88%
• Dyspnea \< grade 2 at rest on room air
• No clinically significant pulmonary comorbidity (e.g., severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• No requirement for supplemental oxygen
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• No active or ongoing infection
• No symptomatic peripheral neuropathy \>= grade 2
• No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance
• No other uncontrolled illness
• More than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for mitomycin and nitrosoureas)
• At least 1 week since prior ketoconazole
• More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• Recovered from all prior therapy
• More than 4 weeks since prior investigational anticancer therapeutic drugs
• No concurrent combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive patients
• No concurrent administration of any of the following herbal remedies:
• * Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal)
• * Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort)
• * Uncaria tomentosa (cat's claw)
• * Echinacea angustifolia roots
• * Trifolium pratense (wild cherry)
• * Matricaria chamomilla (chamomile)
• * Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice)
• * Dillapiol
• * Hypericin
• * Naringenin
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• No other concurrent anticancer agents or therapies