Gemcitabine and Doxorubicin in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Progressive Head and Neck Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Inclusion criteria: * Histologically or cytologically confirmed head and neck cancer * Recurrent or progressive disease * Must have measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded) as ≥ 20 mm by conventional techniques or as ≥ 10 mm by spiral CT scan * Must have received prior platinum-based chemotherapy regimen (cisplatin or carboplatin) with or without radiotherapy, unless the patient was deemed unsuitable for platinum-based therapy due to renal dysfunction or other clinical contraindication Exclusion criteria: * Known brain metastases PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Inclusion criteria: * ECOG performance status (PS) ≤ 2 OR Karnofsky PS ≥ 60% * Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/μL * Platelets ≥ 100,000/µL * Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dL * AST (SGOT)/ALT (SGPT) ≤ 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal * Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL OR creatinine clearance ≥ 30 mL/min * Females of reproductive potential must not plan on conceiving children during study treatment period and must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control or abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of the study Exclusion criteria: * Not pregnant or breastfeeding * History of allergic reaction attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biological composition to gemcitabine hydrochloride or doxorubicin hydrochloride * Lower than normal cardiac …