Triapine, Cisplatin, and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Cervical Cancer or Vaginal Cancer

Inclusion Criteria:

* Female patients must have histologically confirmed (tumor tissue biopsy) primary clinical stage IB2-IVB cervical cancer or clinical stage II-IVB vaginal cancer not amenable to curative surgical resection alone to be eligible; patients with stage IVB cervical cancer may receive systemic chemotherapy for treatment of metastatic disease a) after the 3-month post-therapy PET scan and b) if the 3-month post-therapy PET scan documents progressive disease at the discretion of the treating physician
* Patients with other active invasive malignancies are excluded; patients with prior malignancies (except non-melanoma skin cancer or prior in situ carcinoma of the cervix, patients with synchronous or past history of primary endometrial cancer meeting all conditions of a) stage not greater than IB, b) no more than superficial myometrial invasion, c) without vascular or lymphatic invasion, and d) no poorly differentiated subtypes including papillary serous, clear cell or other FIGO grade 3 lesions; patients with other invasive malignancies who had (or have) cancer present within the last five years are excluded; patients are excluded if they have received prior low abdominal or pelvic radiotherapy for any reason that would contribute radiation dose that would exceed tolerance of normal tissues
* Life expectancy of greater than 3 months
* Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/uL
* Platelets \>= 100,000/uL
* Hemoglobin \>= 10 g/dL
* Total bilirubin =\< 2.0 mg/dL
* AST(SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) =\< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
* PT/aPTT =\< 1.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
* Patients should have a serum creatinine =\< 1.5mg/dL to receive weekly intravenous cisplatin chemotherapy

  * Patients whose serum creatinine is between 1.5 and 1.9 mg/dL are eligible for cisplatin chemotherapy if the estimated creatinine clearance is \>= 30 ml/min; patients eligible for cisplatin chemotherapy using the criteria for creatinine clearance may also receive intravenous Triapine®
* Women of child-bearing potential and male partners 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 or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
* Patients must demonstrate ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier are excluded
* Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents
* Patients with known brain metastases should be excluded from this clinical trial because of their poor prognosis and because they often develop progressive neurological dysfunction that would confound the evaluation of neurological and other adverse events
* History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to Triapine® or other agents used in study
* Patients unable to receive intravenous chemotherapies as a consequence of poor vascular access are ineligible
* Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, known inadequately controlled hypertension, significant pulmonary disease including dyspnea at rest, patients requiring supplemental oxygen, or poor pulmonary reserve; proteinuria or clinically significant renal function impairment (baseline serum creatinine \> 2mg/dL), or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements are excluded
* Patients with known glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD) are excluded as the antidote methylene blue for Triapine® toxicity may be at best ineffective in such patients and may have the potential to complicate the clinical situation by provoking hemolysis
* Pregnant women are excluded from this study because Triapine® is a heterocyclic carboxaldehyde thiosemicarbazone with the potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects; screening beta-hcg levels and diagnostic tests will be used to determine eligibility; because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with Triapine®, breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with Triapine®; these potential risks may also apply to other agents used in this study
* Patients not willing to agree to use appropriate contraception while on trial will be excluded
* HIV-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy are ineligible because of the potential for pharmacokinetic interactions with Triapine®; in addition, these patients are at increased risk of lethal infections when treated with marrow-suppressive therapy; appropriate studies will be undertaken in patients receiving combination antiretroviral therapy when indicated; HIV testing is not mandatory; patients that are known to be HIV-positive are ineligible if they are receiving combination antiretroviral therapy