Dabrafenib in Treating Patients With Solid Tumors and Kidney or Liver Dysfunction

Inclusion Criteria

• •PRE-REGISTRATION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
• •Willing to provide tissue as required per protocol for central BRAF\^V600X mutation testing
• •* NOTE: patients with prior BRAF\^600X testing that demonstrate a mutation at V600X will be allowed to enroll prior to central testing if the assay was performed at a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified laboratory assay; this includes THxID, BRAF Detection Kit, Cobas 4800 BRAF600 mutation test and other CLIA-certified assays available at participating institutions
• •Patients with unknown BRAF\^600X status: histologically confirmed melanoma, papillary thyroid, cholangiocarcinoma or testicular cancer that is metastatic or unresectable and for which the investigator feels a BRAF\^600X targeted agent is a reasonable treatment
• •* NOTE: patient must be screened by central BRAF testing and must demonstrate a V600 mutation prior to start of study agent
• •* Note: other tumor types without known BRAF\^600X mutations will not be eligible for central testing
• •Ability to understand and willingness to sign written informed consent
• •Life expectancy of \> 3 months
• •REGISTRATION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
• •Patients with known BRAF\^V600X mutation: patients must have BRAF\^V600X mutated, histologically confirmed cancer that is metastatic or unresectable and for which curative or standard therapies do not exist or are no longer effective
• •* NOTE: colorectal cancers with BRAF mutations ARE NOT allowed
• •* NOTE: any mutation at the V600 position that results in a change from V (valine) is allowed; this includes E, D, K, R or other mutations not noted here at the V600 position
• •Any number of the following prior therapies is allowed:
• •* Chemotherapy \>= 28 days prior to registration
• •* Mitomycin C/nitrosoureas \>= 42 days prior to registration
• •* Immunotherapy \>= 28 days prior to registration
• •* Biologic therapy \>= 28 days prior to registration
• •* Radiation therapy \>= 28 days prior to registration
• •* Radiation to \< 25% of bone marrow
• •Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 (Karnofsky \>= 70%)
• •Able to swallow and retain oral medication and must not have any clinically significant gastrointestinal abnormalities that may alter absorption such as malabsorption syndrome or major resection of the stomach or bowels
• •Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1.2 x 10\^9/L
• •Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/dL
• •Platelets \>= 100 x 10\^9/L
• •Albumin \>= 2.5 g/dL
• •* NOTE: this applies to patient in the normal and renal dysfunction cohorts (N, R3 and R4); abnormal albumin is allowed for patients in the liver dysfunction cohorts
• •Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =\< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN)
• •* NOTE: this applies to patient in the normal and renal dysfunction cohorts (N, R3 and R4); patients with elevated AST and/or ALT may be assigned to liver dysfunction cohorts
• •Prothrombin time (PT)/international normalized ratio (INR) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT) =\< 1.3 x institutional ULN; subjects receiving anticoagulation treatment may be allowed to participate with INR established within the therapeutic range prior to randomization
• •* NOTE: this applies to patient in the normal and renal dysfunction cohorts (N, R3 and R4); elevated PT/INR is allowed for patients in the liver dysfunction cohorts
• •Left ventricular ejection fraction \>= institutional lower limit of normal (LLN) by echocardiogram (ECHO)
• •Hepatic and renal function meeting the strata below:
• •* Group N: Hepatic: normal function (bilirubin =\< ULN; AST =\< ULN); renal: normal function (creatinine clearance \[CrCl\] \>= 60 mL/min as estimated by the Cockcroft and Gault equation)
• •* Group R3: Hepatic: normal function (bilirubin =\< ULN; AST =\< ULN); renal: severe dysfunction (CrCl \>= 15 and \< 30 mL/min as estimated by the Cockcroft and Gault equation)
• •* Group R4: Hepatic: normal function (bilirubin =\< ULN; AST =\< ULN; renal: renal failure (hemodialysis)
• •* Group H1: Hepatic: mild dysfunction (bilirubin =\< ULN; AST \> ULN); renal: acceptable function (CrCl \>= 60 mL/min as estimated by the Cockcroft and Gault equation)
• •* Group H2: Hepatic: moderate dysfunction (bilirubin \> ULN and =\< 3 x ULN; AST \> ULN); renal: acceptable function (CrCl\>=≥ 60 mL/min as estimated by the Cockcroft and Gault equation)
• •* Group H3: Hepatic: severe dysfunction (bilirubin \> 3 x ULN and up to investigators discretion; AST \> ULN); renal: acceptable function (CrCl \>= 60 mL/min as estimated by the Cockcroft and Gault equation)
• •Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test =\< 7 days prior to registration
• •Women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately; men treated or enrolled on this protocol must also agree to use adequate contraception prior to the study, for the duration of study participation, and 1 month after completion of dabrafenib administration
• •Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document
• •Willingness to provide blood and tissue samples as required per protocol
• •Patients with a history of clinical benefit from prior RAF inhibitor therapy, as judged by the investigator, will be allowed