DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Biopsy proven malignancy, including any of the following:

  • Metastatic renal cell carcinoma
  • Other solid tumor malignancy, including non-AIDS-defining or AIDS-defining malignancy, that has progressed after standard therapy and/or for which other curative options are not available

  • Hematologic malignancy for which effective standard therapy or other curative options are not available

    • No blast phase leukemia
• Serologic documentation of HIV infection by ELISA, western blot, or other federally approved licensed HIV test
• CD4 count > 50 cells/µL

• Has been on stable antiretroviral therapy for ≥ 4 weeks that includes a protease inhibitor-based or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based regimen of ≥ 3 drugs

  • Not planning to change the regimen within 8 weeks after starting study drug

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Karnofsky performance status 70-100%
• Life expectancy ≥ 3 months
• Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm³
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• Creatinine normal OR glomerular filtration rate > 60 mL/min
• Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (total bilirubin ≤ 3.5 mg/dL allowed if elevation is secondary to indinavir therapy AND direct bilirubin normal; if the elevation is secondary to atazanavir therapy, then there is no limit on the total bilirubin if the direct bilirubin is normal)
• AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN
• LVEF normal
• QTc interval ≤ 500 msec
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective barrier contraception during and for up to 3 months after completion of study treatment
• No concurrent active opportunistic infection
• No gastrointestinal tract disease resulting in an inability to take oral medication or a requirement for IV alimentation
• No active peptic ulcer disease
• No clinically significant cardiovascular disease, including uncontrolled hypertension (i.e., diastolic blood pressure ≥ 100 mm Hg despite optimal medical therapy) or unstable angina
• No myocardial infarction, severe/unstable angina, coronary/peripheral artery bypass graft, cerebrovascular accident, transient ischemic attack, or pulmonary embolism within the past 6 months
• No ongoing ventricular cardiac dysrhythmias ≥ NCI CTCAE grade 2
• No history of serious ventricular arrhythmia (i.e., ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation ≥ 3 beats in a row)
• No serious cardiac arrhythmia requiring medication
• No psychiatric illness that would limit compliance with study requirements
• No pre-existing thyroid abnormality that cannot be maintained with medication to keep thyroid-stimulating hormone levels within the normal range
• No other severe and/or life-threatening medical disease

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• Recovered from prior therapy
• No prior sunitinib malate
• No prior surgical procedures affecting absorption
• More than 14 days since prior treatment for an acute infection or other serious medical illness
• More than 2 weeks since prior antineoplastic therapy, including investigational drugs or standard therapy
• More than 3 weeks since prior major surgery or radiotherapy
• No concurrent known CYP3A4 inhibitors or inducers (including grapefruit juice or star fruit) other than antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection
• No concurrent agents with proarrhythmic potential (e.g., terfenadine, quinidine, procainamide, disopyramide, sotalol, probucol, bepridil, haloperidol, risperidone, indapamide, or flecainide)
• No other concurrent therapies for the primary malignancy, including chemotherapy or biologic therapy
• No other concurrent investigational drugs other than antiretroviral agents obtained through an expanded access protocol