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 bryostatin-1 plus cisplatin in treating patients who have recurrent or advanced cancer of the cervix.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the safety and efficacy of bryostatin-1 plus cisplatin in patients with recurrent or advanced carcinoma of the cervix. II. Determine the response rate, progression free interval, and duration of survival of these patients when treated with this regimen.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive bryostatin-1 IV over 1 hour and cisplatin IV over 1 hour on day 1. Treatment continues every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed until death.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 37 patients will be accrued for this study over 2-3 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically confirmed recurrent or advanced carcinoma of the cervix not amenable to surgery or radiotherapy Squamous cell OR Adenocarcinoma OR Adenosquamous carcinoma Measurable disease Brain metastases treated with surgery or radiotherapy allowed if no residual symptoms or medications (e.g., anticonvulsants, corticosteroids)

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: Over 18 Performance status: ECOG 0-2 Life expectancy: At least 3 months Hematopoietic: Granulocyte count at least 1,500/mm3 Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Hemoglobin greater than 9 g/dL Hepatic: Bilirubin less than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) AST/ALT less than 2.5 times ULN Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL Cardiovascular: No severe cardiac dysfunction or arrhythmia Other: Not pregnant or nursing Negative pregnancy test Fertile patients must use effective contraception No concurrent unstable medical illness, infection, or other significant medical problem No clinically apparent neuropathy, including hearing loss No psychological, familial, sociological, or geographical conditions that may preclude study

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: Prior neoadjuvant chemosensitization therapy allowed At least 3 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks since prior mitomycin or nitrosoureas) and recovered Prior cisplatin therapy allowed No prior chemotherapy for advanced disease Endocrine therapy: No concurrent corticosteroids Radiotherapy: At least 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered Surgery: Prior surgery allowed Other: No concurrent anticonvulsants No concurrent antiarrhythmic medication