This phase II trial is studying how well dasatinib works in treating patients with malignant salivary gland tumors that have come back after treatment or have spread to other parts of the body. Dasatinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Determine the objective response rate (complete response plus partial response) of dasatinib in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC).

II. Determine the progression-free survival of dasatinib in ACC.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Determine the duration of response. II. Determine the stable disease rate and duration of stable disease. III. Determine progression-free survival. IV. Determine the median survival. V. Determine the overall survival. VI. Determine the safety and tolerability.

TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To examine biomarkers that relate to SRC proto-oncogene, non-receptor tyrosine kinase (Src) signal transduction and to correlate these biomarkers with clinical response to dasatinib in ACC and non-ACC malignant salivary gland tumors (MSGT).

II. Determine if activating mutations in platelet-derived growth factor alpha polypeptide (PDGFA) and KIT are associated with response in ACC.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive dasatinib orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-28. Courses repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study therapy, patients are followed at 8 weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed malignant salivary gland tumor (MSGT), including one of the following histologic subtypes:

  • Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) with c v-kit Hardy-Zuckerman 4 feline sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (Kit) overexpression or non-ACC MSGT that is not amenable to potentially curable surgery or radiation

    • c-KIT overexpression in ACC patients is defined as cluster of differentiation (CD) 117 staining by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 25% of tumor cells
    • No stipulation for c-KIT overexpression is not required for non-ACC MSGT patients

• Patients must have radiographically measurable disease; radiographically measurable disease is defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded) as >= 20 mm with conventional techniques or as >= 10 mm with spiral computed tomography (CT) scan

• Patients must have evidence of disease progression (objective growth of existing tumors) within 4 months of study entry

• No known brain metastases, unless patient meets both of the following criteria:

  • Neurologic status stable for >= 8 weeks after completion of definitive local therapy (surgery or radiotherapy)
  • No neurologic dysfunction that would confound study results

• Life expectancy greater than 12 weeks

• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-2 OR Karnofsky performance status (PS) >= 60%

• Leukocytes >= 3,000/mcL

• Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= 1,500/mcL

• Platelet >= 100,000/mcL

• Hemoglobin >= 9 g/dL

• Serum calcium =< 12.0 mg/dL

• Total serum bilirubin within normal institutional limits

• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal

• Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance >= 60 mL/min/1.73 m^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal

• Women of childbearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; all women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test prior to receiving dasatinib; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately

• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier; at least 4 weeks must have elapsed since any major surgery

• Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents

• No prior treatment with any other targeted agents that inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), Breakpoint cluster region (BCR) ABL proto-oncogene 1, non-receptor tyrosine kinase (ABL), c-Src, c-KIT, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) beta receptor, or ephrin type-A receptor 2 (EPHA2) (e.g., imatinib mesylate)

• History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to dasatinib

• Patients with corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation (defined as a QTc interval equal to or greater than 500 msec), serious ventricular arrhythmia (ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia greater than or equal to 3 beats in a row) or other significant echocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities are excluded

• Patients with any condition (e.g., gastrointestinal tract disease resulting in an inability to take oral medication, requirement for intravenous [IV] alimentation, or active peptic ulcer disease) that impairs their ability to swallow and retain dasatinib tablets are excluded

• Patients with any of the following conditions are excluded:

  • Serious or non-healing wound, ulcer, or bone fracture
  • History of abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, or intra-abdominal abscesses within the past 28 days
  • Any history of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or transient ischemic attack within the past 12 months
  • History of myocardial infraction, cardiac arrhythmia, stable/unstable angina, symptomatic congestive heart failure, or coronary/peripheral artery bypass graft or stenting within the past 6 months
  • History of pulmonary embolism within the past 12 months
  • Ejection fraction less than institutional normal by echocardiograph (only required for patients with a known history of congestive heart failure, low ejection fraction, or clinical symptoms/findings consistent with congestive heart failure)

• Patients taking medications that are potent inducers or inhibitors of cytochrome P450 family 3, subfamily A, polypeptide 4 (CYP3A4) liver enzyme will be determined following a review of their case by the Principal Investigator; every effort should be made to switch patients taking such agents or substances to other medications

• Patients with known brain metastases should be excluded; patients with brain metastases with stable neurologic status following local therapy (surgery or radiation) for at least 8 weeks from definitive therapy and without neurologic dysfunction that would confound the evaluation of neurologic and other adverse events are eligible for participation; patients cannot be receiving enzyme inducing anti-convulsants including carbamazepine, phenobarbital, and phenytoin

• Patients with uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infections or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements are ineligible

• Pregnant women are excluded from this study; breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with dasatinib

• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy are ineligible

• Patients who have an active pleural or pericardial effusion of any grade

• Diagnosis of any second malignancy within the last 5 years; basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell skin cancer, stage I carcinoma fully treated, or in situ carcinoma that have been adequately treated with no evidence of recurrent disease for 12 months will be eligible