GSAO in Treating Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors That Have Not Responded to Therapy

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically confirmed advanced solid tumor * Refractory to conventional treatment or for which no conventional therapy exists * Disease assessable by DCE-MRI and should be of a size that can be adequately assessed by these techniques * No known primary brain tumors or brain metastases PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * WHO performance status 0-1 * Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks * Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL * Platelet count ≥ 100 x 10\^9/L * Neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 x 10\^9/L * Serum bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * ALT and AST ≤ 2.5 times ULN * Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min (uncorrected value) * Serum potassium and magnesium normal * No proteinuria \> grade 1 either on 24-hour urine or on 2 consecutive dipsticks taken no less than 1 week apart * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile patients must use effective contraception 4 weeks prior to, during, and for 6 months after completion of study therapy * Not at high medical risk due to non-malignant systemic disease, including active uncontrolled infection * No serologically positive hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV * No concurrent congestive heart failure or prior NYHA class III-IV cardiac disease * None of the following medical conditions: * Angina (stable or severe, even if well controlled on medication) * Myocardial infarction in the past 2 months by ECG * Congestive cardiac failure * Arrhythmias, including any condition associated with QTc prolongation (e.g., Lange-Neilson syndrome or Romano Ward syndrome) * Evidence of ischemia * QTc \> 480 msec * Other clinically significant abnormalities * No uncontrolled hypertension (defined as BP consistently greater than 160/100 mm Hg irrespective of medication) * No other condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, would not make the patient a good candidate for this clinical trial * No pacemakers * No metal fragments in the eyes or shrapnel or bullet injuries PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics * Recovered from all prior treatments (except for alopecia or certain grade 1 toxicities which, in the opinion of the investigator and Cancer Research UK, should not exclude the patient) * At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy (except for palliative reasons), endocrine therapy, immunotherapy, or chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas and mitomycin C) * At least 1 week since prior and no concurrent shellfish * At least 6 weeks since prior major surgery (including thoracic and/or abdominal surgery) and recovered * Concurrent luteinizing-hormone releasing-hormone (LHRH) analogues allowed for patients with castration-refractory prostate cancer provided the prostate-specific antigen level is rising * No prior heart or brain surgery * No concurrent drug known to prolong the QTc interval * No concurrent warfarin (1 mg for maintenance of a Hickman line is acceptable) or heparin (flushing of arterial lines, if necessary, is acceptable) * No concurrent naproxen (other NSAIDs are acceptable) * No concurrent prophylactic use of antiemetics during the first treatment * Domperidone and lorazepam must not be used as antiemetics * No other concurrent anticancer therapy or investigational drugs * Concurrent bisphosphonates allowed