Testing How the Body Responds to the Drug CBX-12 in Patients With Advanced Solid Cancers

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have histologically confirmed solid tumors with metastatic disease that have progressed after \>= 1 line of prior therapy * Patients must have measurable disease as defined by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version (v)1.1, with at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded for non-nodal lesions and short axis for nodal lesions) as \>= 20 mm (\>= 2 cm) by chest x-ray or as \>= 10 mm (\>= 1 cm) with CT scan, MRI, or calipers by clinical exam) * Patients must have a tumor site amenable to biopsy * Age \>= 18 years of age * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 (Karnofsky \>= 60%) * Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcL * Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/L * Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL * Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) * However, patients with known Gilbert disease who have serum bilirubin level of up to 3 mg/dl may be enrolled * International normalized ratio (INR) or activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) =\< 1.5 institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) =\< 3 x institutional ULN * AST and/or ALT =\< 5 x ULN for patients with liver involvement * Potassium ≥ lower limit of normal (LLN) * Subjects may receive supplementation to meet this e…