Cisplatin, Etoposide and PI3K Inhibitor BKM120 in Treating Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors or Small Cell Lung Cancer

Inclusion Criteria:

* Histological or cytological proven advanced solid tumors
* =\< 3 chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease; any number of prior targeted or biologic therapies is allowed; (in the expansion cohort, patients must be chemo naïve)
* ECOG performance status =\< 2
* Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1.5 x 10\^9/L
* Platelets \>= 100 x 10\^9/L
* Hemoglobin (Hb) \> 9 g/dL
* Total calcium (corrected for serum albumin) within normal limits (bisphosphonate use for malignant hypercalcemia control is not allowed)
* Magnesium \>= the lower limit of normal
* Potassium within normal limits for the institution
* Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) within normal range (or =\< 3.0 x upper limit of normal (ULN) if liver metastases are present)
* Serum bilirubin within normal range (or =\< 1.5 x ULN if liver metastases are present; or total bilirubin =\< 3.0 x ULN with direct bilirubin within normal range in patients with well documented Gilbert Syndrome)
* Serum creatinine =\< 1.5 x ULN or calculated clearance \>= 60 mL/min
* Serum albumin \>= 3 g/dl
* Serum amylase =\< ULN
* Serum lipase =\< ULN
* Fasting plasma glucose =\< 120 mg/dL (6.7 mmol/L)
* International normalized ratio (INR) =\< 2
* Ability to swallow pills
* Negative serum pregnancy test

Exclusion Criteria:

* Received prior treatment with a P13K inhibitor
* Received \> 300 mg/m\^2 of cisplatin and/or for whom cisplatin would not be beneficial
* Prior treatment with any investigational drug within the preceding 3 weeks
* Known hypersensitivity to BKM120 or to its excipients
* Untreated brain metastases are excluded
* Acute or chronic liver, renal disease or pancreatitis
* Following mood disorders as judged by the Investigator or a psychiatrist, or as a result of patient's mood assessment questionnaire
* Diarrhea \>= CTCAE grade 2
* Active cardiac disease
* History of cardiac dysfunction
* Poorly controlled diabetes mellitus or steroid-induced diabetes mellitus
* Other concurrent severe and/or uncontrolled concomitant medical conditions
* Impairment of gastrointestinal (GI) function or GI disease that may significantly alter the absorption of BKM120 (e.g., ulcerative diseases, uncontrolled nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, malabsorption syndrome, or small bowel resection); patients with unresolved diarrhea will be excluded as previously indicated
* Treated with any hematopoietic colony-stimulating growth factors
* Currently receiving treatment with medication with a known risk to prolong the QT interval or inducing torsades de pointes and the treatment cannot either be discontinued or switched to a different medication prior to starting study drug
* Chronic treatment with steroids or another immunosuppressive agent
* Herbal medications and certain fruits within 7 days prior to starting study drug
* Treated with drugs known to be moderate and strong inhibitors or inducers of isoenzyme CYP3A, and the treatment cannot be discontinued or switched to a different medication prior to starting study drug
* Intravenous chemotherapy or targeted anticancer therapy =\< 4 weeks
* Any continuous or intermittent oral small molecule therapeutics
* Received wide field radiotherapy =\< 4 weeks or limited field radiation for palliation =\< 2 weeks prior to starting study drug or who have not recovered from side effects of such therapy
* Undergone major surgery =\< 2 weeks prior to starting study drug or who have not recovered from side effects of such therapy
* Currently taking therapeutic doses of warfarin sodium or any other Coumadin-derivative anticoagulant
* Women who are pregnant or breast feeding or adults of reproductive potential not employing an effective method of birth control
* Known diagnosis of HIV infection
* History of another active malignancy
* Unable or unwilling to abide by the study protocol or cooperate fully with the investigator treatments