Vorinostat and Temozolomide in Treating Patients With Malignant Gliomas

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with histologically proven intracranial malignant glioma will be eligible for this protocol; malignant gliomas include glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), gliosarcoma (GS), anaplastic astrocytoma (AA), anaplastic oligodendroglioma (AO), anaplastic mixed oligoastrocytoma (AMO), or malignant astrocytoma NOS (not otherwise specified); patients will be eligible if the original histology was low-grade glioma and a subsequent histological diagnosis of a malignant glioma is made * All patients must sign an informed consent indicating that they are aware of the investigational nature of this study; patients must have signed an authorization for the release of their protected health information; patients must be registered with the Adult Brain Tumor Consortium (ABTC) Central Office database prior to treatment with study drug * Life expectancy \> 8 weeks * Karnofsky performance status of \>= 60 * White blood cell (WBC) \>= 3,000/mm\^3 * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1,500/mm\^3 * Platelet count \>= 100,000/mm\^3 * Hemoglobin \>= 10 g/dL; eligibility level for hemoglobin may be reached by transfusion * Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) \< 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * Bilirubin \< 2 times ULN * If liver function tests are above the institutional upper limit of normal but \< 2 times institutional upper limit of normal, the decision to initiate temozolomide treatment should carefully consider the benefits and risks for the individual p…