Sunitinib in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically confirmed esophageal or gastroesophageal junction carcinoma that is not amenable to curative surgery or other curative therapy

  * Advanced, relapsed or refractory disease
* Measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded) as ≥ 20 mm by conventional techniques or as ≥ 10 mm by spiral CT scan
* No known brain metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status 0-1
* Life expectancy \> 12 weeks
* WBC ≥ 3,000/μL
* Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/μL
* Platelet count ≥ 100,000/μL
* Serum calcium ≤ 12.0 mg/dL
* Total bilirubin normal
* AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (Alanine Aminotransferase) ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal
* Creatinine normal OR creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception prior to, during, and for 28 days after completion of study treatment
* No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to sunitinib malate
* No ongoing cardiac dysrhythmias ≥ grade 2, atrial fibrillation of any grade, or prolongation of the QTc (corrected QT interval) interval to \> 450 msec (for males) or \> 470 msec (for females)
* No hypertension that cannot be controlled by medications (i.e., systolic/diastolic blood pressure \> 150/100 mm Hg despite optimal medical therapy)
* No myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmia, stable/unstable angina, symptomatic congestive heart failure, or coronary/peripheral artery bypass graft or stenting within the past 12 months
* No cerebrovascular accident or transient ischemic attack within the past 12 months
* No pulmonary embolism within the past 12 months
* No condition that would impair the ability to swallow and retain sunitinib malate tablets (e.g., gastrointestinal tract disease resulting in an inability to take oral medication or a requirement for IV alimentation, prior surgical procedures affecting absorption, or active peptic ulcer disease)
* No abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, or intra-abdominal abscess within the past 28 days
* No serious or nonhealing wound, ulcer, or bone fracture
* No pre-existing thyroid abnormality that cannot be maintained in the normal range with medication
* No concurrent uncontrolled illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection or psychiatric illness/social situation that would limit compliance with study requirements

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* Recovered from prior therapy
* At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy or major surgery
* At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for mitomycin C, carmustine, or alkylating agents)
* No more than 6 prior courses of an alkylating agent
* No more than 450 mg/m² of prior doxorubicin hydrochloride or 900 mg/m² of prior epirubicin hydrochloride
* No more than 2 lines of prior therapy in the metastatic setting
* No prior anti-VEGF monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab or aflibercept
* No prior tyrosine kinase inhibitors with similar targets (e.g., sorafenib tosylate or axitinib)
* No other concurrent investigational agents
* No concurrent therapeutic doses of coumarin-derivative anticoagulants, such as warfarin

  * Warfarin at doses of ≤ 2 mg daily are allowed for prophylaxis of thrombosis
  * Low molecular weight heparin allowed provided PT/INR (Prothrombin time and international normalized ratio) is ≤ 1.5
* No concurrent combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive patients
* No concurrent agents with proarrhythmic potential (e.g., terfenadine, quinidine, procainamide, disopyramide, sotalol, probucol, bepridil, haloperidol, risperidone, indapamide, and flecainide)