Paclitaxel and Carboplatin in Treating Patients With Metastatic or Recurrent Solid Tumors and HIV Infection

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have known HIV infection and histologically confirmed solid malignancy that is metastatic or unresectable and is therefore incurable; although the focus of this trial will be on upper aerodigestive cancers (non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and non-gastroesophageal junction esophageal cancer), patients with other incurable solid tumor with disease potentially sensitive to carboplatin and/or taxanes (including but not limited to salivary gland cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or anal cancer, BUT excluding Kaposi sarcoma), will be eligible * Up to 1 prior systemic therapy regimen will be permitted for palliative treatment of metastatic or unresectable relapsed disease; however, previous chemotherapy delivered with curative-intent (i.e., chemoradiotherapy or adjuvant \[postoperative\] chemotherapy at a time disease was considered potentially curable) will be permitted; prior taxane (including paclitaxel or docetaxel) and/or platinum exposure will be permitted; however, patients must not experience disease progression within 3 months of platinum-based therapy; at least 4 weeks must have elapsed since prior chemotherapy or radiation therapy, 6 weeks if the last regimen included carmustine (BCNU) or mitomycin C; toxicities from prior anticancer therapy must have recovered to =\< Grade 1 * Serologic documentation of HIV infection at any time prior to study entry, as evidenced by positive enzy…