Paclitaxel and Carboplatin in Treating Patients With Metastatic or Recurrent Solid Tumors and HIV Infection

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients must have known HIV infection and histologically confirmed solid malignancy that is metastatic or unresectable and is therefore incurable; although the focus of this trial will be on upper aerodigestive cancers (non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and non-gastroesophageal junction esophageal cancer), patients with other incurable solid tumor with disease potentially sensitive to carboplatin and/or taxanes (including but not limited to salivary gland cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or anal cancer, BUT excluding Kaposi sarcoma), will be eligible
• •Up to 1 prior systemic therapy regimen will be permitted for palliative treatment of metastatic or unresectable relapsed disease; however, previous chemotherapy delivered with curative-intent (i.e., chemoradiotherapy or adjuvant \[postoperative\] chemotherapy at a time disease was considered potentially curable) will be permitted; prior taxane (including paclitaxel or docetaxel) and/or platinum exposure will be permitted; however, patients must not experience disease progression within 3 months of platinum-based therapy; at least 4 weeks must have elapsed since prior chemotherapy or radiation therapy, 6 weeks if the last regimen included carmustine (BCNU) or mitomycin C; toxicities from prior anticancer therapy must have recovered to =\< Grade 1
• •Serologic documentation of HIV infection at any time prior to study entry, as evidenced by positive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), positive Western Blot, or any other federally approved licensed HIV test; a positive HIV viral load prior to study entry will also be permitted
• •Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 (Karnofsky \>= 50%)
• •Documented life expectancy of greater than 12 weeks
• •Leukocytes \>= 3,000/mcL
• •Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcL
• •Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL
• •Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits
• •Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)(serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT)(serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
• •Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance \>= 50 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
• •Additionally, serum magnesium and potassium must be within institutional normal limits, and a CD4 count \> 100/mcL will be required within 2 weeks of study participation
• •Presence of at least one measureable tumor lesion is required
• •Participating patients must receive medically appropriate care and treatment for HIV infection, including antiretroviral medications, when clinically indicated, and should be under the care of a physician experienced in HIV management; with the exception of treatment with zidovudine and stavudine, patients will be eligible regardless of antiretroviral regimen (no antiretroviral therapy, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors \[NNRTI\]-based therapy, or protease inhibitor based therapy), provided there is no intention to initiate therapy or the regimen has been stable for at least 4 weeks with no intention to change the regimen within 8 weeks following study entry; the exact regimen used for HIV therapy will be captured on Case Report Forms; as study-specific (antiretroviral therapy-based) strata fill, however, only patients fitting the remaining open strata will be accrued
• •Because histone deacetylase inhibitors as well as other therapeutic agents used in this trial are known to be teratogenic, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry, during the duration of study participation, and for at least 3 months following study completion; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately; women of child-bearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test within 7 days before initiation of study drug dosing; post menopausal women must be amenorrheic for at least 12 months to be considered of non-childbearing potential; (Note: A woman of childbearing potential is one who is biologically capable of becoming pregnant; this includes women who are using contraceptives or whose sexual partners are either sterile or using contraceptives)
• •Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document; as the correlative studies are critical to the clinical and scientific value of the trial, CD4 count/HIV viral load determinations will be required, and participation in the tumor-based correlative studies will be strongly recommended; additionally, investigators MUST request sample donation to the AIDS Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR); however, the patient may refuse sample donation; patients accrued to the expansion phase of the study will be required to undergo pharmacokinetic sampling
• •Subjects must in the opinion of the Investigator be capable of complying with this protocol