Docetaxel With or Without Phenoxodiol in Treating Patients With Recurrent Advanced Ovarian Epithelial Cancer, Fallopian Tube Cancer, or Primary Peritoneal Cavity Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically confirmed diagnosis of 1 of the following:

  * Ovarian epithelial cancer
  * Fallopian tube cancer
  * Primary peritoneal cavity cancer
* Recurrent advanced disease

  * Eligible for second-line to fifth-line chemotherapy
  * Received platinum and taxane combination chemotherapy as first-line treatment with disease recurrence \> 6 months after conclusion of therapy

    * No demonstrated refractoriness or resistance to weekly docetaxel
* Meets 1 of the following criteria:

  * Doubling of blood levels of CA125 in the past 6 months and CA125 levels ≥ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
  * Measurable disease defined as ≥ 1 lesion ≥ 20 mm by conventional techniques or ≥ 10 mm by spiral CT scan
* No active CNS metastases

  * Prior CNS metastases allowed provided they were treated with radiation therapy and disease has been stable for 4 weeks

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* Karnofsky performance score ≥ 60%
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after completion of study treatment
* Life expectancy ≥ 3 months
* Creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
* Transaminases ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* Bilirubin normal
* Platelet count \> 100,000/mm\^3
* WBC \> 3,000/mm\^3
* Neutrophil count \> 1,500/mm\^3
* Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL
* Peripheral neuropathy ≤ grade 1
* Relative proportions of AST, ALT, and alkaline phosphatase according 1 to the following criteria:

  * Alkaline phosphatase (AP) normal AND AST/ALT ≤ 5 times ULN
  * AP ≤ 2.5 times ULN AND AST/ALT ≤ 1.5 times ULN
  * AP ≤ 5 times ULN AND AST/ALT normal
* No active infection
* No concurrent severe and/or uncontrolled medical disease (e.g., uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, or congestive heart failure)
* No history of chronic active hepatitis or cirrhosis
* No history of severe hypersensitivity to docetaxel or other drugs formulated with polysorbate 80

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* See Disease Characteristics
* No investigational agents within 4 weeks prior to study entry
* Recovered from prior antineoplastic therapy
* No other concurrent investigational drugs
* No other concurrent chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or hormonal antitumor therapy

  * Concurrent localized radiation therapy allowed for control of local disease complications (e.g., bone metastases) that do not represent a general progression of the disease status
* No concurrent grapefruit or grapefruit juice
* No concurrent amifostine