DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed solid malignancy

  • Metastatic or unresectable disease
• Not amenable to standard curative or palliative therapy
• No known brain metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

• More than 12 weeks

Hematopoietic

• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
• WBC ≥ 3,000/mm^3

Hepatic

• AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal
• Bilirubin normal

Renal

• Creatinine normal OR
• Creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min

Cardiovascular

• QTc < 450 msec for male patients (470 msec for female patients)
• LVEF > 40% by MUGA
• No history of serious ventricular arrhythmia (i.e., ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation ≥ 3 beats in a row)
• No myocardial infarction within the past year
• No New York Heart Association class III or IV congestive heart failure
• No poorly controlled angina
• No history of uncontrolled dysrhythmia or requirement for antiarrhythmic drugs
• No history of congenital long QT syndrome
• No active ischemic heart disease within the past year
• No left bundle branch block
• No other significant cardiac disease

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective double barrier contraception for at least 1 week before, during, and for at least 2 weeks after study participation
• No prior allergy to eggs
• No prior allergic reaction to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to 17-AAG or paclitaxel
• No peripheral neuropathy > grade 1
• No concurrent uncontrolled illness
• No active or ongoing infection
• No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• No concurrent granulocyte colony-stimulating factors

Chemotherapy

• Prior paclitaxel allowed
• More than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin) and recovered
• No prior 17-N-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG)

Endocrine therapy

• Not specified

Radiotherapy

• More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No prior radiotherapy that included the heart in the field (e.g., mantle radiotherapy)

Surgery

• Not specified

Other

• No concurrent combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive patients
• No concurrent therapeutic-dose warfarin for anticoagulation
• No concurrent medications that may prolong QTc interval
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• No other concurrent anticancer agents or therapies