Talazoparib in Treating Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery and Liver or Kidney Dysfunction

Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients must have histologically confirmed malignancy that is metastatic or unresectable and for which standard curative or palliative measures do not exist or are no longer effective
* Any advanced solid malignancy will be eligible, with a strong preference for tumors that are known to commonly harbor defects in homologous recombination repair including triple-negative breast cancer, high-grade serous ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, mesothelioma castration-resistant prostate cancer, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer and head \& neck squamous cell cancer
* Measurable disease as defined by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version (v)1.1 criteria
* All patients must have completed any prior chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy (unless palliative doses which must be discussed with study principal investigator), and surgery, \>= 28 days before study entry
* Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 (Karnofsky \>= 60%)
* Life expectancy of greater than 3 months
* Able to swallow and retain orally-administered medication and does not have any clinically significant gastrointestinal abnormalities that may alter absorption such as malabsorption syndrome or major resection of the stomach or bowels
* Leukocytes \>= 3,000/mcL
* Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcL
* Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL
* Hemoglobin \>= 90 g/L
* Hepatic and renal function meeting the strata as outlined below; nota bene (NB): patients must fulfill both total bilirubin and serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) criteria and creatinine function to be included in a group; however, if a patient's total bilirubin and SGOT/AST and creatinine levels indicate different groups, the patient may be enrolled in the indicated group with the greatest degree of liver dysfunction; all liver and renal function tests must be completed within 24 hours prior to the start of treatment; Note: patients on dialysis will not be eligible

  * Group A: hepatic function: normal function (bilirubin =\< upper limit of normal \[ULN\]; AST =\< ULN); renal function: normal function (creatinine clearance \[CrCl\] \>= 60 mL/min)
  * Group B: hepatic function: normal function (bilirubin =\< ULN; AST =\< ULN); renal function: moderate dysfunction (CrCl \>= 30 and \< 60 ml/min)
  * Group C: hepatic function: normal function (bilirubin =\< ULN; AST =\< ULN); renal function: severe dysfunction (CrCl \>= 15 and \< 30 ml/min)
  * Group D: hepatic function: mild dysfunction D1: bilirubin =\< ULN; AST \> ULN, D2: bilirubin \> ULN and =\< 1.5 x ULN; any AST; renal function: normal function (creatinine clearance \[CrCl\] \>= 60 mL/min)
  * Group E: hepatic function: mooderate dysfunction (bilirubin 1.5 x \> ULN and =\< 3 x ULN; any AST); renal function: normal function (creatinine clearance \[CrCl\] \>= 60 mL/min)
  * Group F: hepatic function: severe dysfunction (bilirubin \> 3 x ULN and up to investigator's discretion; any AST); renal function: normal function (creatinine clearance \[CrCl\] \>= 60 mL/min)
* 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; men treated or enrolled on this protocol must also agree to use adequate contraception prior to the study, for the duration of study participation, and 4 months after completion of talazoparib administration
* All prior treatment-related toxicities must be Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v4.03 grade =\< 1 (except for adverse events \[AEs\] not considered to be dose-limiting toxicities \[DLTs\] in this trial such as alopecia and lymphopenia) at the time of enrollment; if there are any questions, please contact the study's principal investigator
* Females of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test at screening
* Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria:

* Prior treatment with talazoparib or a poly(adenosine diphosphate \[ADP\]-ribosyl)ation (PARP)1/2 inhibitor; prior treatment with other agents that inhibit deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair (i.e. WEE1 homolog \[S. pombe\] \[WEE1\] inhibitors, ataxia telangiectasia mutated \[ATM\] inhibitors), is allowed; if there are any questions, please contact the study's principal investigator
* Any major surgery, extensive radiotherapy, chemotherapy with delayed toxicity, biologic therapy, or immunotherapy must not be given within 28 days prior to study enrollment; for daily or weekly chemotherapy without the potential for delayed toxicity, a washout period of 14 days prior to enrollment may be acceptable, and questions related to this can be discussed with study principal investigator
* Clinically significant bleeding diathesis or coagulopathy, including known platelet function disorders
* Known hypersensitivity to any of the components of talazoparib
* History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to talazoparib
* Use of other investigational drugs within 28 days (or five half-lives, whichever is shorter; with a minimum of 14 days from the last dose) preceding the first dose of talazoparib and during the study
* Symptomatic or untreated leptomeningeal or brain metastases or spinal cord compression; patients with treated central nervous system (CNS) metastasis, no longer requiring steroid therapy are potentially eligible; patients with primary glioblastoma multiforme not requiring steroid therapy will be eligible
* Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, clinically significant cardiac arrhythmias, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
* Any other known malignancy within 3 years (with the exception of non-melanoma skin cancer that had undergone curative treatment, cervical cancer in situ, or ductal/lobular carcinoma in situ of the breast that has underwent local treatment); consult the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) medical monitor if unsure whether second malignancies meet the requirements specified above
* Women of childbearing potential should be advised to avoid pregnancy and use effective methods of contraception for 4 months after study treatment is completed; men with a female partner of childbearing potential must have either had a prior vasectomy or agree to use effective contraception for at least 4 months after study treatment is completed; if a female patient or a female partner of a patient becomes pregnant while the patient receives talazoparib, the potential hazard to the fetus should be explained to the patient and partner (as applicable)
* Active hepatitis B virus (HBV), or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (patients with chronic or cleared HBV and HCV infection are eligible)
* Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy are ineligible
* Any condition or medical problem in addition to the underlying malignancy and organ dysfunction that the investigator feels would pose unacceptable risk