Sunitinib Malate in Treating Patients With Unresectable or Metastatic Kidney Cancer or Other Advanced Solid Tumors

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed renal cell cancer; or other solid malignancy (excluding lymphoma) that is metastatic or unresectable and for which no standard curative therapy exists * For the renal cell cancer subset, a component of clear cell histology is required * Measurable disease, defined as \>= 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion \>= 20 mm by conventional techniques or \>= 10 mm by spiral CT scan * Life expectancy \> 12 weeks * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-2 * Leukocytes \>= 3,000/mm\^3 * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1,500/mm\^3 * Platelet count \>= 100,000/mm\^3 * Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/dL * Serum calcium =\< 12.0 mg/dL * Total bilirubin normal * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxalo-acetic transaminase \[SGOT\]) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN), unless subjects have liver metastases, in which case both AST and ALT must be =\< 5 x ULN * Creatinine =\< 2 times ULN OR creatinine clearance \>= 40 mL/min for patients with creatinine levels above 2 x institutional normal * All patients need to be willing to undergo planned pharmacodynamic assessments, including serial PET imaging, plasma markers, and pharmacokinetic sampling * Women of childbearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to …