Sorafenib Tosylate and Bevacizumab in Treating Patients With Advanced Kidney Cancer

Inclusion Criteria:

* PHASE I ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
* Patients must have histological or cytological confirmation of renal cell carcinoma (clear cell, papillary, chromophobe, or sarcomatoid) not curable by standard approaches; tumor must be measurable by Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria; nephrectomy prior to enrollment is not required
* Patients may not have had prior therapy with inhibitors of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway or inhibitors of VEGF and/or its receptor signaling (VEGFR2)
* Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1
* Life expectancy of greater than 3 months
* Hemoglobin (Hgb) \>= 9.0gm/dl (transfusions allowed prior to enrollment)
* White Blood Count \>= 3,000/mm\^3
* Absolute Granulocyte Count \>= 1,200/mm\^3
* Platelet Count \>= 100,000/mm\^3
* Serum creatinine =\< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) or serum creatinine clearance (CrCl) \>= 40ml/min (neither drug is cleared by the kidney)
* Total Bilirubin =\< 1.5 x ULN
* Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =\< 2.5 x ULN
* International normalized ratio (INR) =\< 1.5 and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) that is not greater than 1.3 times the ULN
* Urine Dipstick must show less then 1+ protein in urine or the patient will require 24 hour urine collection with total protein =\< 1000 mg/24 hour
* Women of child-bearing 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 while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
* Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document
* PHASE II ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
* Patients enrolled on the phase II portion of the study will be required to have predominantly clear cell variant of renal cell carcinoma with less than 25% of any other histology (papillary or chromophobe or oncocytic); there must be histologic confirmation by treating center of either primary or metastatic lesion; patients must be willing to consent for obtaining tumor tissue blocks or unstained slides from prior biopsy or surgery; patients who participated in the Phase I part of the protocol will not be part of the accrual to the Phase II cohort
* Patients enrolled on the phase II portion of the study will be required to have measurable disseminated disease that is not curable by standard radiation therapy or surgery
* Previous nephrectomy is required with the following exceptions:

  * Primary tumor =\< 5cm or
  * Extensive liver (\> 30% of liver parenchymal) or multiple (\> 5) bone metastases, or extensive extrarenal tumor or unresectable local/regional tumor extension making nephrectomy a clinically questionable and unreasonable procedure
* For the phase II study, patients will be allowed no more than one prior regimen containing a vaccine or cytokine based immunotherapy or chemotherapy for advanced disease
* Hgb \>= 9.0gm/dl (transfusions allowed prior to enrollment)
* White Blood Count \>= 3,000/mm\^3 (phase II)
* Absolute Granulocyte Count \>= 1,200/mm\^3 (phase II)
* Platelet Count \>= 100,000/mm\^3 (phase II)
* Serum creatinine =\< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) or serum creatinine clearance (CrCl) \>= 40ml/min (neither drug is cleared by the kidney) (phase II)
* Total Bilirubin =\< 1.5 x ULN (phase II)
* AST/ALT =\< 2.5 x ULN
* INR =\< 1.5
* Urine Dipstick must show less then 1+ protein in urine or the patient will require 24 hour urine collection with total protein =\< 1000 mg/24 hour (phase II)
* No prior malignancy diagnosed within the past 3 years with the exception of non-melanoma skin cancers, melanoma in situ, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, ductal carcinoma in situ, and lobular carcinoma in situ; any prior malignancy must have a very likely cure rate (75% or greater)
* Women of child-bearing 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 while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately (phase II)
* Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document (phase II)

Exclusion Criteria:

* History or clinical evidence of central nervous system (CNS) disease, including primary brain tumor (participants with a history of meningioma are not excluded), seizures not controlled with standard medical therapy, any brain metastasis, or history of stroke within the prior 12 months; patients who have had a history of brain metastasis that have been resected or have had radiosurgery with no progression for more than 6 months are eligible if the Principle Investigator from the coordinating center is consulted and agrees
* Patients entered onto the phase II study may not have received more than one chemotherapy or immunotherapy regimen for Stage IV disease
* Patients may not have received chemotherapy or immunotherapy within 4 weeks of initiating treatment; patients will not have received a regimen containing a monoclonal antibody within 8 weeks of initiating treatment; toxicities from radiation must have resolved and a minimum of two weeks must pass prior to enrollment
* Patients may not have had prior anti-angiogenic therapy including, Sunitinib, VEGF Trap; prior Temsirilomus, Everolimus, Bevacizumab and Sorafenib will not be allowed; thalidomide or interferon (IFN) alpha are allowed either for adjuvant therapy or stage IV disease
* History of allergic reactions attributed to Chinese hamster ovary cell products, other recombinant human antibodies, or compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to Sorafenib
* History of bleeding diathesis or coagulopathy
* A condition that impairs patient's ability to swallow pills will make patient ineligible
* No major surgical procedure, open biopsy or significant traumatic injury within 28 days prior to initiation of therapy on trial
* Anticipation of the need for major surgery during the course of the study
* Current or recent use (within 7 days of starting the study drugs) of full-dose of anticoagulants (except as required to maintain patency of preexisting, permanent indwelling IV catheters or for deep vein thrombosis \[DVT\] prophylaxis, for subjects receiving warfarin, INR should be =\< 1.5) or thrombolytic agent
* Patients with uncontrolled hypertension; blood pressure must be =\< 150/90 mmHg at the time of enrollment on a stable antihypertensive regimen
* Patients with clinically significant cardiovascular disease within 1 year prior to study entry

  * Uncontrolled hypertension
  * Myocardial infarction or unstable angina \< 6 months prior to registration
  * New York heart association grade II or greater congestive heart failure, serious cardiac arrhythmia requiring medication (participants with controlled atrial arrhythmias are not excluded), unstable angina pectoris
  * Grade II or greater peripheral vascular disease
* Serious, non-healing wound, ulcer, or bone fracture
* Significant proteinuria (\> 1000 mg protein/24 hours ) at baseline; subjects discovered to have \>= 1+ proteinuria on dipstick should undergo a 24-hour urine collection, which should contain \< 1000 mg protein/ 24 hours to be allowed participation in the study
* Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection requiring parental antibiotics, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
* Patients taking cytochrome P450 enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs will be excluded (phenytoin, carbamazepine, Phenobarbital, rifampin, and St.John's Wort)
* Pregnant and lactating women are excluded from the study; breastfeeding should be discontinued while receiving therapy
* Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients receiving combination anti-retroviral therapy are excluded from the study