Capecitabine and Gemcitabine in Treating Patients With Metastatic Kidney Cancer

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 combining capecitabine with gemcitabine in treating patients who have metastatic kidney cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

* Determine the objective response rate in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with gemcitabine and capecitabine.
* Determine the duration of overall and progression-free survival of patients treated with this regimen.
* Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients.

Eligibility Criteria:
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically confirmed renal cell carcinoma

  * Clinically confirmed metastatic disease (histologic documentation of metastatic disease not required)
* Sarcomatoid renal cell carcinomas allowed
* No pure sarcomas
* No collecting duct (duct of Bellini) tumors, oncocytomas, or transitional cell tumors
* Measurable disease

  * At least 20 mm by conventional techniques OR
  * At least 10 mm by spiral CT scan
  * Nonmeasurable lesions include the following:

    * Bone lesions
    * Leptomeningeal disease
    * Ascites
    * Pleural/pericardial effusion
    * Lymphangitis cutis/pulmonis
    * Abdominal masses that are not confirmed and followed by imaging techniques
    * Cystic lesions
* Patients with known brain metastases are eligible if they have undergone prior surgical resection and/or cranial irradiation, they currently do not require steroids or anticonvulsants, and there is no progressive disease on CT scan or MRI at least 4 weeks after completion of radiotherapy

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

* 18 and over

Performance status

* ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

* Not specified

Hematopoietic

* Granulocyte count at least 1,500/mm\^3
* Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3

Hepatic

* Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal

Renal

* Creatinine clearance at least 30 mL/min

Cardiac

* No clinically significant cardiac disease
* No congestive heart failure
* No symptomatic coronary artery disease
* No cardiac arrhythmias not well controlled with medication
* No myocardial infarction within the past 12 months

Other

* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective barrier contraception during and for 3 months after study
* No prior severe reaction to fluoropyrimidine therapy or known sensitivity to fluorouracil
* No malabsorption syndrome or lack of physical integrity of the upper gastrointestinal tract that would preclude absorption of capecitabine

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

* Not specified

Chemotherapy

* At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy and recovered
* No prior gemcitabine
* No prior fluoropyrimidines (e.g., fluorouracil, floxuridine, capecitabine, or fluorouracil-uracil)
* No other concurrent chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

* See Disease Characteristics
* At least 4 weeks since prior megestrol
* No concurrent hormones (e.g., megestrol) except steroids for adrenal failure, hormones for nondisease-related conditions (e.g., insulin for diabetes), or intermittent dexamethasone as an antiemetic

Radiotherapy

* See Disease Characteristics
* At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
* Prior radiotherapy to any lesion that may produce disability (e.g., unstable femur) allowed
* No concurrent palliative radiotherapy

Surgery

* See Disease Characteristics
* At least 4 weeks since prior major surgery and recovered

Other

* Any number of prior regimens allowed