Sunitinib in Treating Patients With Metastatic Germ Cell Tumors That Have Relapsed or Not Responded to Treatment

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically confirmed seminoma or nonseminoma germ cell tumors (GCT)

Refractory or relapsed disease
Metastatic disease

Progressive disease after prior cisplatin-based chemotherapy AND meets 1 of the following criteria for salvage therapy:

Not a candidate for potentially curative therapy
Received prior high-dose chemotherapy regimens
Declines potentially curative therapy (mediastinal GCT or primary refractory GCT)

Measurable disease*, defined as 1 of the following:

At least 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion ≥ 20 mm by conventional techniques OR ≥ 10 mm by spiral CT scan
Elevation of alpha-fetoprotein > 15 ng/mL and/or elevation of human chorionic gonadotropin > 2.2 mIU/L
NOTE: *Patients with radiographically measurable disease only must have ≥ 1 site that has not undergone prior irradiation

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Karnofsky performance status 70-100%
Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm³
Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL
Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times ULN
AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN (unless elevated liver function abnormalities due to underlying malignancy)
LVEF ≥ 50% by MUGA
No grade 3 hemorrhage within the past 4 weeks

None of the following within the past 6 months:

Myocardial infarction
Severe or unstable angina
Coronary or peripheral artery bypass graft
Symptomatic congestive heart failure
Cerebrovascular accident or transient ischemic attack
Pulmonary embolism
No prolonged QTc interval (i.e., QTc > 450 msec for males and > 470 msec for females)
No ongoing cardiac dysrhythmias ≥ grade 2
No uncontrolled hypertension, defined as blood pressure > 150/100 mm Hg despite optimal therapy
No active infection
No other severe acute or chronic medical or psychiatric condition or laboratory abnormality that would preclude study compliance, according to the study investigator

Not pregnant or nursing

Negative sonogram required to exclude pregnancy
Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

See Disease Characteristics
No prior sunitinib malate
More than 4 weeks since prior major surgery and recovered
More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
Concurrent palliative radiotherapy to metastatic lesion(s) allowed provided ≥ 1 measurable lesion has not been irradiated

No concurrent therapeutic doses of warfarin

Low-dose oral warfarin (up to 2 mg daily) for prophylaxis and treatment or heparin products at prophylactic or treatment doses allowed

No other concurrent investigational or approved anticancer therapies, including chemotherapy, biologic response modifiers, hormone therapy, or immunologic-based treatment

Concurrent participation in supportive care or nontreatment trials (e.g., quality-of-life or laboratory analyses) allowed