Akt Inhibitor MK2206 in Treating Patients With Progressive, Recurrent, or Metastatic Adenoid Cyst Carcinoma

Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients must have pathologically confirmed adenoid cystic carcinoma; confirmation will be performed locally at each participating institution; cancers arising from non-salivary gland primary sites are allowed
* Patients must have measurable disease, as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded for non-nodal lesions and short axis for nodal lesions) as \>= 2.0 cm with conventional techniques or as \>= 1.0 cm with spiral computed tomography (CT) scan; to be considered pathologically enlarged and measurable, a lymph node must be \> 1.5 cm in short axis when assessed by CT scan (CT scan slice-thickness recommended to be no greater than 5 mm)
* Patients must have locally advanced and/or recurrent and/or metastatic disease not amenable to potentially curative surgery or radiotherapy
* Patients must have increasing disease, defined as the presence of new or progressive lesion(s) on CT/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within 6 months prior to study enrollment and/or new/worsening disease-related symptoms; NOTE: this increase in disease is to be determined in the oncologist's best judgment and does not have to meet Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria
* Chemotherapy and radiation therapy must be completed at least 4 weeks prior to registration; if the last regimen included Carmustine (BCNU) or mitomycin C, it must be completed at least 6 weeks prior to registration; NOTE: any number of prior chemotherapy regimens is allowed, including no prior treatment
* Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 (equivalent to Karnofsky \>= 50%)
* Leukocytes \>= 3,000/mm\^3
* Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,000/mm\^3
* Platelets \>= 75,000/mm\^3
* Total bilirubin =\< institutional upper limit of normal (ULN)
* Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) (aspartate aminotransferase \[AST\]) or serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) (alanine aminotransferase \[ALT\]) =\< 2.5 institutional upper limit of normal
* Creatinine =\< ULN OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above ULN
* Patients must be able to swallow whole tablets; NOTE: nasogastric or gastric (G) tube administration is not allowed; tablets must not be crushed or chewed
* Patients must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who have received prior treatment with phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase, catalytic subunit alpha (PI3K), v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1 (Akt), or mechanistic target of rapamycin (serine/threonine kinase) (mTOR) inhibitors for recurrent/metastatic ACC
* Patients who are receiving any other investigational agents
* Patients with known brain metastases
* History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to MK-2206 or other agents used in the study
* Patients receiving any medications or substances that are major inhibitors or inducers of cytochrome P450, family 3, subfamily A, polypeptide 4 (CYP450 3A4)
* Diabetic patients with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of greater than 8%; NOTE: preclinical studies demonstrated the potential of MK-2206 for induction of hyperglycemia in all preclinical species tested; patients with diabetes or at risk for hyperglycemia should not be excluded from trials with MK-2206, but the hyperglycemia should be well controlled before the patient enters the trial
* Cardiovascular baseline Fridericia corrected QT (QTcF) \> 450 msec (male) or QTcF \> 470 msec (female) will exclude patients from entry on study; NOTE: medications that may cause QTc interval prolongation should be avoided by patients entering on trial
* Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that, in the opinion of the investigator, would limit compliance with study requirements
* Pregnant women; NOTE: women of child-bearing potential must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test within 7 days prior to registration

  * 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 or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
  * Breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with MK-2206
* Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy
* Other active malignancy, other than indolent malignancies which the investigator determines are unlikely to interfere with treatment and safety analysis