RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die.

PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of docetaxel in treating patients with advanced solid tumors that have not responded to standard therapy or for which there is no effective therapy.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the maximum tolerated dose of docetaxel in patients with advanced solid tumors and varying degrees of liver dysfunction. II. Determine the effects of liver dysfunction in these patients on the plasma pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of this therapy. III. Determine the utility of indocyanine green clearance and lidocaine metabolism as indicators of hepatic elimination of docetaxel in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to liver function (normal vs mild vs moderate vs severe). Patients receive docetaxel IV over 1 hour. Courses repeat every 3 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients who achieve complete remission (CR) receive 2 additional courses past CR. Within each abnormal liver function stratum, cohorts of 3-6 patients receive escalating doses of docetaxel until the maximum tolerated dose is determined. The MTD is defined as the dose preceding that at which 2 of 6 patients experience dose-limiting toxicity. Within each abnormal liver function stratum, more than 6 patients are treated at the MTD, if possible. Patients in the normal liver function stratum are included as control patients and are followed for toxicity, but do not undergo dose escalation. Patients are followed for survival.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A maximum of 45 patients will be accrued for this study within 12-18 months.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically proven solid tumor that is refractory to standard therapy or for which no standard therapy exists Eligible tumors, include, but are not limited to, the following: Breast Ovarian Head and neck Non-small cell lung cancer Abnormal liver function Control patients with normal liver function are enrolled Brain metastases allowed if controlled by radiotherapy or surgery and neurologic status currently stable Hormone receptor status: Not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 and over Sex: Not specified Menopausal status: Not specified Performance status: Karnofsky 50-100% Life expectancy: At least 1 month Hematopoietic: Neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm3 Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Hemoglobin at least 9 g/dL OR Hematocrit at least 35% Hepatic: See Disease Characteristics No active acute hepatitis Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL OR Creatinine clearance at least 60 mL/min Cardiovascular: No concurrent cardiovascular disease that is poorly controlled with currently available treatment or of such severity as to preclude study Pulmonary: No concurrent pulmonary disease that is poorly controlled with currently available treatment or of such severity as to preclude study Other: No other concurrent illness (e.g., CNS disease) that is poorly controlled with currently available treatment or of such severity as to preclude study No severe infection requiring treatment Not pregnant Negative pregnancy test Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: No prior bone marrow transplantation Chemotherapy: At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for mitomycin or nitrosoureas) and recovered Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: See Disease Characteristics At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered No prior radiotherapy to more than 25% of bone marrow Surgery: See Disease Characteristics Recovered from major surgery