Testing the PD-1 Antibody, MK3475, Given With Ziv-aflibercept in Patients With Advanced Cancer

Exclusion Criteria

• •Patients who have had chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy, or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
• •* Note: patients with =\< grade 2 neuropathy are an exception to this criterion and may qualify for the study
• •* Note: if patients received major surgery, they must have recovered adequately from the toxicity and/or complications from the intervention prior to starting therapy
• •Patients who are currently participating in or have participated in a study of an investigational agent or using an investigational device within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment
• •Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment
• •Has had a prior monoclonal antibody within 4 weeks prior to study day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., =\< grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events (AEs) due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
• •Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment; exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or in situ cervical cancer that has undergone potentially curative therapy
• •Lesions suspected to be at higher-risk for bleeding such as bowel involvement with tumor that invades into the bowel wall or involves the intraluminal component of bowel by imaging or direct visualization or central pulmonary lesions
• •Ulcerated skin lesions
• •Full anti-coagulant therapy Coumadin; patients may be receiving therapeutic Lovenox, Fragmin, or other heparin product that does not require laboratory monitoring
• •Poorly-controlled hypertension as defined blood pressure (BP) \> 150/100 mmHg, or systolic (S) BP \> 180 mmHg when diastolic (D) BP \< 90 mmHg, on at least 2 repeated determinations on separate days within 3 months prior to study enrollment
• •Pregnant or nursing women
• •Patients with known brain metastases should be excluded from this clinical trial because of their poor prognosis and because they often develop progressive neurologic dysfunction that would confound the evaluation of neurologic and other adverse events
• •Patients with carcinomatous meningitis should also be excluded
• •Patients with previously treated brain metastases may participate provided they are stable (without evidence of progression by imaging for at least 3 months prior to the first dose of trial treatment and any neurologic symptoms have returned to baseline), have no evidence of new or enlarging brain metastases, and are not using steroids for at least 7 days prior to trial treatment
• •History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to MK-3475 and ziv-aflibercept
• •Has an active autoimmune disease requiring systemic treatment within the past 3 months or a documented history of clinically severe autoimmune disease, or a syndrome that requires systemic steroids or immunosuppressive agents; patients with vitiligo or resolved childhood asthma/atopy would be an exception to this rule; patients that require intermittent use of bronchodilators or local steroid injections would not be excluded from the study; patients with hypothyroidism stable on hormone replacement or Sjogren's syndrome will not be excluded from the study
• •Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the patient's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the patient to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator
• •Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial
• •Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, interstitial lung disease or active, non-infectious pneumonitis, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• •If pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment; pregnant women are excluded from this study because MK-3475 is an agent with the potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects; because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with MK-3475, breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with MK-3475; these potential risks may also apply to other agents used in this study; MK-3475 may have adverse effects on a fetus in utero; furthermore, it is not known if MK-3475 has transient adverse effects on the composition of sperm; patients are excluded from this study if pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment
• •Patients who are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive may participate IF they meet the following eligibility requirements:
• •* They must be stable on their anti-retroviral regimen, and they must be healthy from an HIV perspective
• •* They must have a cluster of differentiation (CD)4 count of greater than 250 cells/mcL
• •* They must not be receiving prophylactic therapy for an opportunistic infection
• •Has known active hepatitis B (e.g., hepatitis B surface antigen \[HBsAg\] reactive) or hepatitis C (e.g., hepatitis C virus \[HCV\] ribonucleic acid \[RNA\] \[qualitative\] is detected)
• •Has received a live vaccine within 30 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment
• •History within 6 months prior to treatment of myocardial infarction, severe/unstable angina pectoris, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV congestive heart failure (CHF), stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
• •History within 3 months prior to treatment of grade 3-4 gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding/hemorrhage, treatment resistant peptic ulcer disease, erosive esophagitis or gastritis, infectious or inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, pulmonary embolus, or other uncontrolled thromboembolic event
• •Patients who are less than 4 weeks post-operative (op) after major surgery