Gamma-Secretase/Notch Signalling Pathway Inhibitor RO4929097 in Treating Patients With Stage IV Melanoma

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients must have histologically confirmed melanoma of cutaneous or unknown origin (ocular primary and mucosal primary excluded); patients must have Stage IV disease
• •All patients must undergo a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain within 42 days prior to registration that is negative for brain metastases; patients with a history of brain metastases are ineligible
• •Patients must have measurable disease; all measurable lesions must be assessed (by physical examination, CT, or MRI scan) within 28 days prior to registration; tests to assess non-measurable disease must be performed within 42 days prior to registration; all disease must be assessed and documented on the Baseline Tumor Assessment Form (Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors \[RECIST\] 1.1); the CT from a combined positron emission tomography (PET)/CT must not be used to document measurable disease unless it is of diagnostic quality
• •Sites must offer all patients participation in translational medicine studies and banking of paraffin embedded tissue and whole blood
• •Patients must not have received any prior systemic therapy for Stage IV disease except for noncytotoxic biologic agents (e.g., vaccines, cytokines, cell therapies that do not require cytotoxic agents); patients may have received prior treatment with up to two prior biological therapies - no cytotoxics or kinase inhibitors - for advanced disease
• •Patients may have had prior adjuvant immunotherapy with biological response modifiers (examples include but are not limited to interferon, vaccines, GM-CSF, and CTLA-4 blocking antibodies); prior adjuvant immunotherapy must have been completed at least 28 days prior to registration
• •Adjuvant therapy containing cytotoxic agents is allowed if completed \>= 180 days prior to registration
• •Patients may have received prior radiation therapy; any side effects the patients had due to prior radiation therapy must have resolved to =\< Grade 1 prior to registration; prior radiation therapy must have completed at least 28 days prior to registration
• •Patients must have Zubrod performance status of 0-1
• •Leukocytes \>= 3,000/mcL
• +24 more criteria