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

PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of topotecan in treating patients with recurrent or refractory cancer of the uterus.

OBJECTIVES: I. Estimate the antitumor activity of topotecan in patients with recurrent or refractory carcinosarcoma of the uterus who have failed standard therapy. II. Determine the nature and degree of toxic effects of topotecan in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients receive topotecan IV over 30 minutes daily for 5 days. Treatment repeats every 3 weeks for a minimum of 1 course in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with complete response, partial response, or stable disease continue treatment for at least three courses. Patients are followed every 4 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then periodically thereafter until death.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 25-40 patients will be accrued for this study within 2 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically proven recurrent or refractory carcinosarcoma (mixed mesodermal tumors) of the uterus Measurable disease

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: Not specified Performance Status: GOG 0-2 Life Expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Absolute granulocyte count at least 1,500/mm3 Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) SGOT no greater than 3 times ULN Alkaline phosphatase no greater than 3 times ULN Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL Creatinine clearance greater than 20 mL/min Other: No invasive malignancies within the past 5 years except nonmelanomatous skin cancer No significant infection

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: At least 3 weeks since prior biologic therapy Chemotherapy: At least 3 weeks since prior chemotherapy and recovered No prior topotecan or camptothecin therapy No more than 1 prior chemotherapy regimen (either single or combination chemotherapy) Endocrine therapy: At least 3 weeks since prior endocrine therapy Radiotherapy: At least 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered Surgery: Prior surgery allowed and recovered