RATIONALE: EMD 121974 may stop the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to the tumor.

PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of EMD 121974 in treating patients who have locally advanced or metastatic cancer.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the safety and tolerability of EMD 121974 in patients with advanced or metastatic cancer. II. Correlate various surrogate markers of antiangiogenic activity with EMD 121974 therapy including magnetic resonance imaging and PET scans, serum assays for various angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors, serum and urine markers of calcium metabolism, and tumor biopsies.

OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study. Patients receive EMD 121974 IV over 1 hour twice weekly for 4 weeks. Treatment continues for an additional course in the absence of unacceptable toxicity. Patients with stable or responding disease may continue therapy indefinitely past the 2 courses until disease progression. Cohorts of 3-6 patients receive escalating doses of EMD 121974 until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined. The MTD is defined as the dose preceding that at which 2 of 3 or 2 of 6 patients experience dose limiting toxicities. Patients are followed every 3 months for the first year, and then every 4 months thereafter until disease progression.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 31-40 patients will be accrued for this study.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically or cytologically confirmed locally advanced or metastatic cancer that is considered incurable and for which no standard curative therapy exists No primary CNS malignancies Measurable evidence of residual, recurrent, or metastatic disease No prior CNS metastases with residual abnormal findings on neuroradiologic studies Prior CNS metastases allowed provided at least 6 months from definitive therapy and a normal CT or MRI of the brain

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 and over Performance status: ECOG 0-2 Life expectancy: At least 3 months Hematopoietic: Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm3 Hemoglobin at least 9 mg/dL (may be post transfusion) Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Hepatic: Bilirubin normal SGOT/SGPT no greater than 2.5 times upper limit of normal PT/PTT normal Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL Other: Not pregnant or nursing Negative pregnancy test Fertile patients must use effective contraception No active infection requiring parenteral antibiotics No documented abnormal CNS exam with seizure disorder or major neuropsychiatric problems

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: At least 2 weeks since prior hematopoietic growth factor or cytokine therapy and recovered No concurrent immunotherapy Chemotherapy: At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (at least 6 weeks since prior nitrosoureas or mitomycin) and recovered No concurrent chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: No concurrent corticosteroids except for steroid replacement therapy or chronic low dose (no greater than 10 mg/day oral prednisone) therapy for nonmalignant conditions No concurrent hormonal therapy except oral contraceptives or hormonal replacement therapy Radiotherapy: At least 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered No concurrent radiotherapy Surgery: At least 2 weeks since prior surgery and recovered Other: At least 4 weeks since other prior investigational drugs No concurrent oral or parenteral anticoagulants except anticoagulants for central venous catheters including low dose warfarin (1-2 mg/day) and/or heparin No concurrent oral COX-2 specific inhibitors (e.g., celecoxib or rofecoxib)