Pegylated Arginine Deiminase in Treating Patients With Metastatic Melanoma That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically confirmed metastatic melanoma, meeting any of the following criteria:

  * Progressive disease after chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, or immunotherapy
  * No longer responding to standard therapy OR have refused standard therapy
* Unresectable disease
* Measurable or evaluable disease
* No clinical ascites
* No symptomatic pleural effusion

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks
* Karnofsky performance status 70-100%
* Bilirubin ≤ 3.0 mg/dL
* Albumin ≥ 3.0 g/dL
* Alkaline phosphatase \< 5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* Serum glucose \> 60 mg/dL
* Amylase \< 1.5 times ULN
* Absolute neutrophil count \> 1,500/mm³
* Platelet count \> 100,000/mm³
* No New York Heart Association class III-IV heart failure
* No serious infection requiring treatment with antibiotics
* No known allergy to E. coli drug products (e.g., sargramostim \[GM-CSF\])
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use 2 forms of effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* See Disease Characteristics
* At least 4 weeks since prior anticancer therapy
* At least 4 weeks since prior surgery and recovered
* No concurrent participation in another investigational drug study