RO4929097 and Vismodegib in Treating Patients With Breast Cancer That is Metastatic or Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

Patients must be women with histologically or cytologically confirmed locally advanced breast cancer that is metastatic or unresectable and for which standard curative or palliative measures do not exist or are no longer effective

Patients must be human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2) non-expressing (if immunohistochemistry \[IHC\] 0 or 1+; fluorescent in situ \[FISH\] ratio less than 2; if IHC 2+, FISH ratio must be less than 2.0); once the MTD has been determined, the expansion phase will be limited to patients with estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2 negative (i.e. "triple negative") disease; Her-2 will be assessed as above; ER and PR are considered negative if immunoperoxidase staining of tumor cell nuclei is \< 5%

Patients must have measurable disease per RECIST guidelines or evaluable (non-measurable) disease

Patients MUST have tumor accessible and suitable for serial biopsy with 4-6 passes of a 16 or 18 gauge needle

Patients must have Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 (Karnofsky \>= 60%)

Prior therapy:

* Patients must have failed at least 1 prior systemic therapy for metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer

* IMPORTANT: Patients with chronic grade 1 or 2 toxicity may be eligible at the discretion of the Principal Investigator (e.g. grade 2 chemo-induced neuropathy); note that patients with ongoing alopecia of any grade will be eligible

* Chemotherapy: prior chemotherapy is allowed; patients must not have received chemotherapy for 3 weeks prior to the initiation of study treatment and must have full recovery from any acute effects of any prior chemotherapy; patients must not have had nitrosoureas or mitomycin C for 6 weeks prior to the initiation of study treatment

* Radiation: prior radiation therapy is allowed; patients must not have received minimal radiation therapy (=\< 5% of their total marrow volume) within 3 weeks prior to the initiation of study treatment; otherwise, patients must not have received radiation therapy (\> 5% of their total marrow volume) within 4 weeks prior to the initiation of study treatment; patients who have received prior radiation to 50% or more of their total marrow volume will be excluded

* Other therapies: prior experimental (non-Food and Drug Administration \[FDA\] approved) therapies and immunotherapies are allowed; patients must not have received these therapies for 30 days or five half- lives of the drug prior to the initiation of study treatment and must have full recovery from any acute effects of these therapies; patients who have prior treatment with either a gamma-secretase or hedgehog inhibitor will be excluded from participating in this study

* Patients must not have received allogeneic stem cell transplant

Patients must not have co-morbid condition(s) that, at the opinion of the investigator, prevent safe treatment

Patients must not have active infection or fever \> 38.5 degree Celsius (C)

Patients must not be human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)+, hepatitis B+ or hepatitis C+ (active or previous treatment)

All patients must provide archival tissue block or paraffin sample from archival tissue block (approximately 10 sections) for use in pharmacodynamic and pharmacogenomics correlative studies

Patients must agree to undergo a total of three serial biopsies for research purposes

Patients must have a life expectancy of greater than 12 weeks

Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/dL

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1,500/mcL

Platelets (PLT) \>= 100,000/mcL

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =\< 2.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN); if liver metastases are present, =\< 5 x ULN

Alkaline phosphatase =\< 2.0 x ULN; if bone or liver metastases are present, =\< 5 x ULN

Bilirubin =\< 1.5 x ULN

Creatinine =\< 1.5 x ULN OR calculated or measured creatinine clearance \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine above institutional normal

Women of childbearing potential must use two forms of contraception (i.e., barrier contraception and one other method of contraception) at least 4 weeks prior to study entry, for the duration of study participation, and for at least 12 months post-treatment; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner are participating in this study and for 12 months after study participation, the patient should inform the treating physician immediately

* Pregnancy testing: women of childbearing potential are required to have a negative serum pregnancy test (with a sensitivity of at least 25 mIU/mL) within 10-14 days and within 24 hours prior to the first dose of RO4929097 or GDC-0449 (serum or urine); a pregnancy test (serum or urine) will be administered every cycle if their menstrual cycles are regular or every 2 weeks if their cycles are irregular while on study within the 24-hour period prior to the administration of study drug; a positive urine test must be confirmed by a serum pregnancy test; prior to dispensing study drug, the investigator must confirm and document the patient's use of two contraceptive methods, dates of negative pregnancy test, and confirm the patient's understanding of the teratogenic potential of RO4929097 and GDC-0449

* Female patients of childbearing potential are defined as follows:

* Patients with regular menses

* Patients, after menarche with amenorrhea, irregular cycles, or using a contraceptive method that precludes withdrawal bleeding

* Women who have had tubal ligation

* Female patients may be considered to NOT be of childbearing potential for the following reasons:

* The patient has undergone total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy or bilateral oophorectomy

* The patient is medically confirmed to be menopausal (no menstrual period) for 24 consecutive months

* Pre-pubertal females; the parent or guardian of young female patients who have not yet started menstruation should verify that menstruation has not begun; if a young female patient reaches menarche during the study, then she is to be considered as a woman of childbearing potential from that time forward

Patient must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Patients must have a corrected QT (QTc) interval of =\< 450 msec in males and a QTc =\< 470 msec in females as measured by electrocardiogram (ECG) using Bazett's formula

What this study is about