Patient description: A 17 year old boy complains of vomiting, non-bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, chills and loss of appetite for the past 3 days. He ate a salad at a restaurant prior to his diarrhea onset. Physical exam was remarkable for pallor, jaundice, and diffuse abdominal tenderness. Lab results were as follows: Hemoglobin: 9.7 g/dL Platelet: 110,000 /cu.mm Creatinine: 3.6 mg/dL blood urea nitrogen (BUN): 73 mg/dL direct bilirubin: 2.4 mg/dL lactate dehydrogenase (LDH): 881 IU/L (normal: 110-265 IU/L) Peripheral blood smear showed a moderate number of schistocytes and helmet cells. Shiga-like toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) stx1/stx2 were found in stools. He has no other underlying disease and he is not on any medications.

Clinical trial eligibility criteria: eligible ages (years): 1.083-21.0,  Childhood Solid Neoplasm Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Recurrent Neuroblastoma Patients must have had histologic verification of malignancy at original diagnosis or relapse; all patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors or anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) are eligible except for patients with primary or metastatic central nervous system (CNS) tumors or patients with primary cutaneous ALCL Patients must have either measurable or evaluable disease Patient?s current disease state must be one for which there is no known curative therapy or therapy proven to prolong survival with an acceptable quality of life Karnofsky >= 60% for patients > 16 years of age and Lansky >= 50 for patients =< 16 years of age; Note: patients who are unable to walk because of paralysis, but who are up in a wheelchair, will be considered ambulatory for the purpose of assessing the performance score Patients must have fully recovered from the acute toxic effects of all prior anti-cancer chemotherapy Myelosuppressive chemotherapy Solid tumors: at least 21 days after the last dose of myelosuppressive chemotherapy (42 days if prior nitrosourea) ALCL Patients with ALCL who relapse while receiving standard maintenance chemotherapy will not be required to have a waiting period before enrollment onto this study Patients who relapse while they are not receiving standard maintenance therapy, must have fully recovered from all acute toxic effects of prior therapy; at least 14 days must have elapsed after the completion of cytotoxic therapy  Pregnant or breast-feeding women will not be entered on this study; pregnancy tests must be obtained in girls who are post-menarchal; males or females of reproductive potential may not participate unless they have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method during treatment and for 3 months after stopping treatment Patients receiving corticosteroids who have not been on a stable or decreasing dose of corticosteroid for at least 7 days prior to enrollment are not eligible Patients who are currently receiving another investigational drug are not eligible Patients who are currently receiving other anti-cancer agents are not eligible Patients who are receiving cyclosporine, tacrolimus or other agents to prevent graft-versus-host disease post bone marrow transplant are not eligible for this trial Patients chronically receiving medications known to be metabolized by cytochrome P 450, family 3, subfamily A, polypeptide 4 (CYP3A4) and with narrow therapeutic indices including pimozide, aripiprazole, triazolam, ergotamine and halofantrine are not eligible; the topical use of these medications (if applicable) is allowed Patients chronically receiving drugs that are known potent CYP3A4 inhibitors within 7 days prior to study enrollment, including but not limited to ketoconazole, itraconazole, miconazole, clarithromycin, erythromycin, ritonavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, saquinavir, amprenavir, delavirdine, nefazodone, diltiazem, verapamil, and grapefruit juice are not eligible; the topical use of these medications (if applicable), e.g. 2% ketoconazole cream, is allowed Patients chronically receiving drugs that are known potent CYP3A4 inducers within 12 days prior to study enrollment, including but not limited to carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, rifabutin, rifampin, tipranavir, ritonavir, and St. John?s wort are not eligible; the topical use of these medications (if applicable) is allowed Patients who have an uncontrolled infection are not eligible Patients who have received a prior solid organ transplantation are not eligible