DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically proven unresectable locally recurrent or metastatic melanoma

  • Chemotherapy naive with no more than 2 prior immunotherapy regimens (including cytokines, vaccines, or adjuvant interferon) OR
  • Prior chemotherapy failure with no more than 2 prior immunotherapy regimens (including adjuvant interferon) and no more than 1 prior chemotherapy regimen (which may include carmustine) not including antiangiogenesis therapy

• Measurable disease

  • At least 20 mm in at least 1 dimension by conventional technique OR at least 10 mm in at least 1 dimension by spiral CT scan
• No disease confined only to the CNS
• No uncontrolled symptomatic brain metastases regardless of other disease sites

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy:

• At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic:

• WBC at least 3,000/mm^3
• Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,200/mm^3
• Platelet count at least 100,000/mm^3

Hepatic:

• Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 mg/dL
• AST and/or ALT no greater than 3 times upper limit of normal
• PT normal

Renal:

• Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL OR
• Creatinine clearance greater than 60 mL/min

Pulmonary:

• DLCO at least 70% predicted

Other:

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• No concurrent significant psychiatric or medical illness, including active infections, that would interfere with study therapy or increase risk
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except curatively treated nonmelanomatous skin cancer, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or superficial bladder cancer

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• See Disease Characteristics

Chemotherapy:

• See Disease Characteristics
• At least 4 weeks since prior systemic chemotherapy (at least 6 weeks since prior carmustine or mitomycin) and recovered
• No other concurrent chemotherapy or investigational antineoplastic drugs

Endocrine therapy:

• Not specified

Radiotherapy:

• At least 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
• No concurrent radiotherapy

Surgery:

• At least 3 weeks since prior major surgery and recovered

Other:

• At least 4 weeks since other prior anticancer systemic therapy and recovered