Capecitabine With or Without Sunitinib Malate as First-Line Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic Cancer of the Esophagus or Gastroesophageal Junction

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically or cytologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction

Metastatic disease
Unresectable disease with no curative options
Measurable disease with ≥ 1 lesion whose longest diameter can be accurately measured as ≥ 2.0 cm by conventional techniques or ≥ 1.0 cm by spiral CT

Not a candidate for a conventional multi-drug chemotherapy regimen with fairly standard dosing (i.e., patient is able to tolerate at least 80% of standard dosing)

Patients who have been offered and declined conventional multi-drug chemotherapy are eligible
No known CNS metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

ECOG performance status (PS) 0-2 and age ≥ 65 years OR PS 2 and age ≥ 18 years but < 65 years
Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3
Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
Total bilirubin normal
Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN
Creatinine clearance ≥ 60mL/min
AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN (≤ 5 times ULN in the presence of liver metastases)
Not pregnant or nursing
Negative pregnancy test
Fertile patients must use effective contraception
Willing to provide tissue samples for central review and research purposes
Able to swallow pills
No immunocompromised patients (other than related to the use of corticosteroids), including patients known to be HIV-positive
No co-morbid systemic illnesses or other severe concurrent disease that, in the judgment of the investigator, would make the patient inappropriate for this study or interfere significantly with the proper assessment of safety and toxicity of the prescribed regimens

No uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, any of the following:

Ongoing or active infection
Symptomatic congestive heart failure
Unstable angina pectoris
Cardiac arrhythmia
Psychiatric illness or social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
No NYHA class III or IV heart failure
No uncontrolled hypertension except at the discretion of treating oncologist
No other active malignancy except for nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
No known dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency (DPD)

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

No prior chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or biological therapy for recurrent or metastatic cancer

Prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy are allowed if they had been administered as adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy and a complete surgical resection of the original cancer had been achieved
No prior sunitinib malate
No prior radiotherapy to > 30% of the marrow cavity at any time
More then 4 weeks since prior major surgery
At least 12 days since prior and no concurrent CYP3A4 inducers, including rifampin, rifabutin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, St. John's wort, efavirenz, and tipranavir
At least 7 days since prior and no concurrent CYP3A4 inhibitors, including azole antifungals (ketoconazole, itraconazole), clarithromycin, erythromycin, diltiazem, verapamil, HIV protease inhibitors (indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, atazanavir, nelfinavir), and delavirdine
No other concurrent specific treatment (other than hormonal therapy) in patients with a history of prior malignancy