Pyrazoloacridine in Treating Patients With Metastatic Skin or Eye Melanoma

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically confirmed metastatic cutaneous or ocular melanoma that is chemotherapy naive
* Bidimensionally measurable disease
* No pleural effusions or ascites
* No untreated CNS metastases
* Stable brain metastases by CT or MRI scan

  * At least 4 weeks since prior steroid therapy

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

* 18 and over

Performance status:

* ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy:

* At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic:

* WBC at least 4,000/mm\^3
* Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm\^3
* Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3

Hepatic:

* Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 mg/dL
* SGOT and SGPT no greater than 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* Alkaline phosphatase no greater than 2.5 times ULN (unless due to hepatic metastases)

Renal:

* Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL OR
* Creatinine clearance at least 60 mL/min

Other:

* Not pregnant or nursing
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception
* No active infection
* No known hypersensitivity to E.coli derived proteins
* No other serious medical problems
* No more than 1 primary malignancy within past 5 years, other than:

  * Nonmelanomatous skin cancer
  * Carcinoma in situ of the cervix
* No history of spinal cord compression

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

* Prior biologic therapy allowed (e.g., interleukin-2, interferon alfa, or vaccine therapy)

Chemotherapy:

* No prior chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy:

* See Disease Characteristics

Radiotherapy:

* Prior radiotherapy for primary ocular melanoma, brain metastases, or to metastatic sites encompassing less than 25% of the bone marrow allowed
* No other prior radiotherapy

Surgery:

* At least 2 weeks since prior surgery and recovered