Testing the Use of Nilotinib and Paclitaxel as a Treatment for Patients With Prior Taxane Treatment, A ComboMATCH Treatment Trial

This phase II ComboMATCH treatment trial evaluates nilotinib with paclitaxel for the treatment of patients with solid cancers that are growing, spreading, or getting worse (progressive) and that have previously been treated with taxane therapies. Nilotinib is in a class of medications called kinase inhibitors. It works by binding to and blocking the action of a protein called ABL, which signals tumor cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the proliferation of tumor cells. Paclitaxel is a drug that blocks cell growth by stopping cell division and it may kill tumor cells. Giving nilotinib with paclitaxel may be effective at treating patients with progressive solid cancers that have previously been treated with taxane therapies.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To evaluate the proportion of patients with taxane-refractory advanced malignancies who have objective responses (OR) to treatment with nilotinib hydrochloride monohydrate (nilotinib) and paclitaxel.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

I. Collect tissue and provide it to the ComboMATCH registration protocol to assess concordance between the diagnostic tumor mutation profile generated by the designated laboratories, the pre-treatment biopsy mutation profile, and the pre-treatment circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid (ctDNA) mutation profile from plasma, as described in ComboMATCH registration protocol. For this treatment substudy, the outcome objective will be to report the proportion of cases providing sufficient tissue for that integrated scientific activity in the ComboMATCH registration protocol.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate progression free survival (PFS) at 6 months on study agents. II. To identify genomic and transcriptomic determinants of response and resistance in tumor biopsy specimens and cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

OUTLINE:

Patients receive nilotinib hydrochloride monohydrate orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-28 and paclitaxel intravenously (IV) over 1 hour on days 1, 8, and 15 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients undergo computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) throughout the study. Patients also undergo collection of blood samples and tumor biopsy on study.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed until disease progression, and for survival for 3 years from registration.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Patient must be enrolled on the ComboMATCH registration protocol (EAY191) at the time of registration to the EAY191-E4 study
* Patient must be \>= 18 years of age
* Patient must not have any of the following mutations (as determined by the ComboMATCH registration protocol), which are known to confer sensitivity or resistance to nilotinib monotherapy:

  * KIT: W557R, V559D, V559A, L576P, and K642E
  * PDGFR-alpha: D842V
* Patient must have disease that can be safely biopsied and agree to a pre-treatment biopsy or have archival tissue available from within 12 months prior to the date of registration on the ComboMATCH registration trial (EAY191)

  * NOTE: The current actionable mutation of interest (aMOI)/actionable alteration list for this treatment trial can be found on the Cancer Trials Support Unit (CTSU) website
  * NOTE: Novel/dynamic aMOI can be submitted for review per the process described in the ComboMATCH registration protocol
* Patient must be willing to provide blood samples for research purposes
* Patient must have had at least one prior line of therapy in the metastatic setting
* Patient must have previously undergone taxane therapy (in the metastatic setting)

  * Patients who previously responded to prior taxane therapy must have received their last dose of taxane therapy within 6 months prior to EAY191-E4 registration and have had no other intervening treatment prior to EAY191-E4 registration
  * Patients who did not respond to prior taxane therapy are eligible regardless of the time elapsed since the prior taxane therapy or any other intervening therapies
* Patient must have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2
* Patient must not have had platinum-resistant epithelial serous ovarian cancer
* Patients must not have neuropathy \>= grade 2 within 14 days of registration/randomization
* Patient must have documented QT interval with Fridericia's correction (QTcF) of =\< 450 msec within 8 days prior to EAY191-E4 registration. Patients with a QTcF interval of \>= 450 msec at registration or patients with congenital long QT syndrome are not eligible
* Patient must not be pregnant or breast-feeding due to the potential harm to an unborn fetus and possible risk for adverse events in nursing infants with the treatment regimens being used

  * All patients of childbearing potential must have a blood test or urine study within 14 days prior to registration to rule out pregnancy
  * A patient of childbearing potential is defined as anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or whether they have undergone tubal ligation, who meets the following criteria: 1) has achieved menarche at some point, 2) has not undergone a hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy; or 3) has not been naturally postmenopausal (amenorrhea following cancer therapy does not rule out childbearing potential) for at least 24 consecutive months (i.e., has had menses at any time in the preceding 24 consecutive months)
* Patient must not expect to conceive or father children by using accepted and effective method(s) of contraception or by abstaining from sexual intercourse for the duration of their participation in the study and for at least 3 months after the last dose of study drug
* Patients must have progressive disease
* Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1,500/mcL
* Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL
* Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) (with the exception of those with Gilbert syndrome, who must have total bilirubin =\< 3 x institutional ULN)
* Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 3 institutional upper limit of normal; \< 5.0 x ULN in patients with liver metastases
* Creatinine clearance \> 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels \> 1.5 mg/dL
* Patient must have the ability to swallow medications
* Patient must have completed any prior therapy ≥ 4 weeks or ≥ 5 half-lives of the prior agent (whichever is shorter) prior to enrollment on protocol. Prior definitive radiation should have been completed ≥ 4 weeks prior to enrollment; prior palliative radiation should have been completed ≥ 2 weeks prior to enrollment. Patients must be ≥ 2 weeks since any investigational agent administered as part of a phase 0 study (where a sub-therapeutic dose of drug is administered) and should have recovered to grade 1 or baseline from any toxicities
* Patients with treated brain metastases are eligible if follow-up brain imaging after central nervous system (CNS)-directed therapy shows no evidence of progression for ≥ 1 month after treatment of the brain metastases