Irinotecan in Treating Patients With Esophageal or Stomach Cancer

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must be \> 18 years of age * Patients must have a performance status of 0-2 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Scale * Patients must have a predicted life expectancy of at least 12 weeks * Patients must have a pretreatment granulocyte count of \>1500/mm3, a hemoglobin level of \>9.0 gm/dL and the platelet count of \>100000/mm3 * Patients must have adequate renal function as documented by a serum creatinine \< 2.0 mg/dL * Patients must have adequate hepatic function as documented by a serum bilirubin \< 1.5 mg/dL, regardless of whether patients have liver involvement secondary to tumor. Aspartate transaminase must be \< 3 x institutional upper limit of normal unless the liver is involved with tumor, in which case the aspartate transaminase must be \< 5 x institutional upper limit of normal * Patients must have histologically proven adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastric cardia with progression despite prior chemotherapy * Patients must have disease radiologically measurable bidimensionally * Patients must have an interval of 4 weeks from prior chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with any active or uncontrolled infection * Patients with psychiatric disorders that would interfere with consent or follow-up * Patients with a history of myocardial infarction within the previous six months or congestive heart failure requiring therapy * Patients with a history of prior malignancy except for adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, in situ cervical cancer, or other cancer for which the patient has been disease-free for at least five years * Pregnant or lactating women. Men and women of reproductive potential may not participate unless they have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method * Presence of clinically apparent central nervous system metastases or carcinomatous meningitis * Patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus * Patients with any other severe concurrent disease which, in the judgment of the investigator, would make the patient inappropriate for entry into this study * Prior therapy with a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) topoisomerase inhibitor * Patients with known Gilbert's syndrome