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 gemcitabine in treating patients with recurrent or refractory cancer of the uterus.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the antitumor activity of gemcitabine in patients with recurrent or persistent leiomyosarcoma of the uterus who failed higher priority treatment protocols. II. Determine the toxicity of gemcitabine in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients receive gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes weekly for 3 weeks. Courses repeat every 4 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity and disease progression. Patients with partial response, complete response, or stable disease receive at least 3 courses of therapy. Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, then every 6 months for 3 years.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 40 patients will be accrued for this study within 4 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically confirmed recurrent or persistent uterine leiomyosarcoma that is refractory to curative therapy or standard treatments Failed local therapeutic measures and considered incurable Measurable disease Not eligible for a higher priority GOG protocol

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 and over Performance status: GOG 0-2 Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: WBC at least 3,000/mm3 Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Granulocyte count at least 1,500/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 mg/dL Other: No significant infection At least 5 years since any other invasive malignancy except nonmelanoma skin cancer

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 gemcitabine No more than 1 prior chemotherapy regimen (single agent or combination therapy) Endocrine therapy: At least 3 weeks since prior endocrine therapy Radiotherapy: At least 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered Surgery: At least 3 weeks since prior surgery and recovered