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 irofulven in treating patients who have stage IV melanoma.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the response rate and duration of response in patients with stage IV malignant melanoma treated with 6-hydroxymethylacylfulvene. II. Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive 6-hydroxymethylacylfulvene IV over 5 minutes on days 1-5. Treatment repeats every 4 weeks for a minimum of 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with stable or responding disease after completion of course 2 receive additional courses. Patients are followed every 3 months for 5 years, and then annually thereafter until death.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 16-35 patients will be accrued for this study within 1 year.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically proven stage IV malignant melanoma No prior chemotherapy OR No more than 1 prior chemotherapy containing regimen Measurable disease Brain metastasis allowed if adequately treated

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 and over Performance status: ECOG 0-2 OR Karnofsky 60-100% Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: Hemoglobin at least 10 g/dL WBC at least 4,000/mm3 Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm3 Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than upper limit of normal (ULN) ALT/AST no greater than 2.5 times ULN Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL OR Creatinine clearance at least 50 mL/min Other: Not pregnant or nursing Negative pregnancy test Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: See Disease Characteristics Recovered from any prior therapy No other concurrent therapy