Lapatinib Ditosylate Before Surgery in Treating Patients With Recurrent High-Grade Glioma

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients must have histologically proven World Health Organization (WHO) grade IV glioblastoma/ gliosarcoma or WHO grade III glioma (anaplastic astrocytoma, anaplastic oligodendroglioma, mixed anaplastic oligoastrocytoma, anaplastic ependymoma) which is progressive or recurrent following radiation therapy +/- chemotherapy
• •Patients must have measurable, supratentorial contrast-enhancing progressive or recurrent high-grade glioma by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging within 21 days of starting treatment; patient must be able to tolerate MRIs
• •Patients may have an unlimited number of prior therapy regimens
• •Patients must have recovered from severe toxicity of prior therapy; the following intervals from previous treatments are required to be eligible:
• •* 12 weeks from the completion of radiation
• •* 6 weeks from a nitrosourea chemotherapy
• •* 3 weeks from a non-nitrosourea chemotherapy
• •* 4 weeks from any investigational (not Food and Drug Administration \[FDA\]-approved) agents
• •* 4 weeks from the last treatment with bevacizumab
• •* 2 weeks from administration of a non-cytotoxic, FDA-approved agent other than bevacizumab (e.g., hydroxychloroquine, etc.)
• •Patients must be undergoing surgery that is clinically indicated as determined by their care providers; patients must be eligible for surgical resection according to the following criteria:
• •* Expectation that the surgeon is able to resect at least 500 mg of tumor from enhancing tumor and 100 mg from non-enhancing tumor with low risk of inducing neurological injury
• •Patient tumor sample must have evidence of EGFR gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA)-certified laboratory assay
• •Paraffin embedded tissue must be available from initial surgical resection at diagnosis (prior to any treatment)
• •Patients must have a Karnofsky performance status \>= 60% (i.e. the patient must be able to care for himself/herself with occasional help from others)
• •Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcL
• •Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL
• •Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/dL
• •Total bilirubin =\< institutional upper limit of normal
• •Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 3 x institutional upper limit of normal
• •Creatinine =\< institutional upper limit of normal OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 ml/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
• •Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT)/partial thromboplastin time (PTT) =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal
• •Patients must have left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) within normal institutional limits within 21 days of starting treatment
• •Patients must have a 12-lead electrocardiogram performed within 2 weeks of treatment start with corrected (QTC) =\< 470 msec
• •Patients must be able to provide written informed consent
• •Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test prior to study entry; women of childbearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or 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 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 for 4 months after completion of lapatinib administration
• •Patients must have no concurrent malignancy except curatively treated basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or carcinoma in situ of the cervix, breast, or bladder; patients with prior malignancies must be disease-free for \>= five years
• •Patients must be able to swallow medication by mouth, either tablets or dispersed tablets in solution