Selumetinib in Treating Patients With Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Cutaneous Neurofibroma

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients be \>= 18 years old at the time of enrollment and must have a documented germline neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) mutation in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) certified laboratory or a diagnosis of NF1 based on clinical National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus criteria; in addition to substantial cutaneous neurofibroma burden, at least one of the criteria below have to be present * Six or more cafe-au-lait macules (\>= 0.5 cm in prepubertal subjects or \>= 1.5 cm in post pubertal subjects) * Freckling in axilla or groin * Optic glioma * Two or more Lisch nodules * A distinctive bony lesion (dysplasia of the sphenoid bone or dysplasia or thinning of long bone cortex) * A first-degree relative with NF1 * Histologic confirmation of tumor is not necessary in the presence of consistent clinical findings * Patients must have substantial cutaneous neurofibroma burden causing distress to the patient by disfigurement or itching; patients must have \>= 9 measurable cutaneous neurofibromas; for the purpose of this study measurability will be defined for each of the lesions selected as target lesions as a neurofibroma with a longest diameter \>= 4 mm in the longest diameter * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 * Hemoglobin \>= 10 g/dL (not requiring red blood cell \[RBC\] transfusions) * Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcL * Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL (not requiring platelet transfusions) * Total…