Temozolomide and Everolimus in Treating Patients With Stage IV Melanoma That Cannot be Removed by Surgery

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Everolimus may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor and by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Giving everolimus together with temozolomide may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving everolimus together with temozolomide works in treating patients with stage IV melanoma that cannot be removed by surgery

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Estimate the 9-week progression-free survival rate for patients with stage IV malignant melanoma treated with everolimus and temozolomide. Secondary * Evaluate overall survival time. * Evaluate time to disease progression. * Evaluate confirmed response rate. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive oral everolimus once a day on days 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, and 29-33 and oral temozolomide once a day on days 8-12 for course 1 only. For course 2 and all subsequent courses, patients receive oral everolimus once a day on days 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, and 22-26 and oral temozolomide once a day on days 1-5. Treatment repeats every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. All patients undergo blood sample collection periodically for correlative studies. Samples are analyzed for relative numbers of T, B, and NK cells via flow cytometry, quantitative immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgM, and IgA), Tetramer/ELISPOT CTL frequencies to CMV/EBV immunodominant antigens, V beta T cell spectratyping, and VEGF levels via ELISA. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 8 weeks.