RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with mitomycin, doxorubicin, and cisplatin in treating patients with recurrent or advanced cancer of the uterus.

OBJECTIVES: I. Estimate the antitumor activity of the combination of mitomycin, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (MAP) in patients with recurrent or advanced uterine sarcomas. II. Determine the nature and degree of toxicity of MAP chemotherapy in this cohort of patients.

OUTLINE: Patients receive IV doxorubicin, mitomycin, and cisplatin over 3 hours once every 3 weeks, for a minimum of 1 course. Patients who have complete response, partial response, or stable disease will continue for at least 3 courses. If side effects are not severe, patients may remain on the study regimen at the investigator's discretion for a maximum of 6 courses. All patients are followed until death.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: The first stage of accrual is anticipated to accrue 20 evaluable patients in approximately 12 months. If indicated, a second stage will accrue approximately 10 evaluable patients.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically confirmed advanced, persistent, or recurrent uterine sarcoma Documented disease progression after local therapy Measurable disease consisting of abdominal, pelvic, chest, or other masses that can be defined in at least two dimensions by palpation, x-ray, computed tomography or ultrasound

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: No age specified Performance status: Karnofsky 50%-100% Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: WBC at least 3,000/mm3 Granulocyte count at least 1,500/mm3 Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times normal SGOT no greater than 3 times normal Alkaline phosphatase no greater than 3 times normal Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 times normal Cardiovascular: Ejection fraction within institutional normal limits Pulmonary: Not specified Other: No active infection No concurrent second malignancy other than nonmelanoma skin cancer Must be disease free of any prior malignancy for at least 5 years and not received any treatments with chemotherapy or radiation therapy for that malignancy

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: No prior chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: At least 6 weeks since radiotherapy Recovered from effects of radiotherapy Surgery: Recovered from effects of surgery