therapeutic angiotensin-(1-7) in treating patients with metastatic sarcoma that cannot be removed by surgery

Conditions: Bone Cancer; Chondrosarcoma; Clear Cell Sarcoma of the Kidney; Metastatic Osteosarcoma; Ovarian Sarcoma; Recurrent Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Uterine Sarcoma; Stage III Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Stage III Uterine Sarcoma; Stage IV Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Stage IV Uterine Sarcoma

Summary: this phase ii trial studies how well therapeutic angiotensin-(1-7) works as second-line therapy or third-line therapy in treating patients with metastatic sarcoma that cannot be removed by surgery. therapeutic angiotensin-(1-7) may stop the growth of sarcoma by blocking blood flow to the tumor. funding source - fda office of orphan drug products (oopd)

primary objectives: i. to evaluate the response rate of chemotherapy-refractory sarcomas to 20 mg per day of single-agent ang(angiotensin)-(1-7) or 10 mg per day of single-agent ang-(1-7) if excessive toxicity is observed at the 20 mg dose. ii. to evaluate toxicities associated with single-agent ang-(1-7) when given to patients with chemotherapy-refractory sarcomas. secondary objectives: i. to assess time to progression (ttp) and overall survival (os) in patients treated with ang-(1-7). ii. to evaluate accumulation of ang-(1-7) after 21 days of continuous treatment and quantify changes in plasma levels of angiogenic peptides including placental growth factor (plgf). outline: patients receive therapeutic angiotensin-(1-7) subcutaneously (sc) once daily in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. after completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * patients must have a histologically or cytologically confirmed sarcoma that is metastatic or unresectable and have progressed despite 1 or 2 prior treatment regimens with chemotherapy or targeted anti-cancer agents such as imatinib * prior treatment: \>= 4 weeks since completion of radiation or chemotherapy, except for \>= 6 weeks for melphalan, nitrosoureas, or mitomycin-c * eastern cooperative oncology group (ecog) performance status =\< 2 * absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/microliter (mcl) * platelets \>= 100,000/mcl * total bilirubin =\< 2 mg/dl * aspartate aminotransferase (ast) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[sgot\])/alanine aminotransferase (alt) (serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase \[sgpt\]) \< 3 x upper limit or normal (uln) * estimated (est.) creatinine clearance \> 30 ml/min * measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension as \> 10 mm * women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or double-barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; 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 may not be receiving any other investigational agents for cancer treatment * patients with evidence of bleeding diathesis are ineligible * no concurrent treatment with angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ace) inhibitors or angiotensin ii receptor blockers (arbs) * uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, uncontrolled hypertension or hypotension, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * pregnant and nursing women are excluded from this study