Lapatinib Ditosylate Before Surgery in Treating Patients With Recurrent High-Grade Glioma

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have histologically proven World Health Organization (WHO) grade IV glioblastoma/ gliosarcoma or WHO grade III glioma (anaplastic astrocytoma, anaplastic oligodendroglioma, mixed anaplastic oligoastrocytoma, anaplastic ependymoma) which is progressive or recurrent following radiation therapy +/- chemotherapy * Patients must have measurable, supratentorial contrast-enhancing progressive or recurrent high-grade glioma by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging within 21 days of starting treatment; patient must be able to tolerate MRIs * Patients may have an unlimited number of prior therapy regimens * Patients must have recovered from severe toxicity of prior therapy; the following intervals from previous treatments are required to be eligible: * 12 weeks from the completion of radiation * 6 weeks from a nitrosourea chemotherapy * 3 weeks from a non-nitrosourea chemotherapy * 4 weeks from any investigational (not Food and Drug Administration \[FDA\]-approved) agents * 4 weeks from the last treatment with bevacizumab * 2 weeks from administration of a non-cytotoxic, FDA-approved agent other than bevacizumab (e.g., hydroxychloroquine, etc.) * Patients must be undergoing surgery that is clinically indicated as determined by their care providers; patients must be eligible for surgical resection according to the following criteria: * Expectation that the surgeon is able to resect at least 500 mg of tumor from enhancing tumor and 100 mg from non-enhancing tumor with low risk of inducing neurological injury * Patient tumor sample must have evidence of EGFR gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA)-certified laboratory assay * Paraffin embedded tissue must be available from initial surgical resection at diagnosis (prior to any treatment) * Patients must have a Karnofsky performance status \>= 60% (i.e. the patient must be able to care for himself/herself with occasional help from others) * Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcL * Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL * Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/dL * Total bilirubin =\< institutional upper limit of normal * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 3 x institutional upper limit of normal * Creatinine =\< institutional upper limit of normal OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 ml/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal * Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT)/partial thromboplastin time (PTT) =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal * Patients must have left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) within normal institutional limits within 21 days of starting treatment * Patients must have a 12-lead electrocardiogram performed within 2 weeks of treatment start with corrected (QTC) =\< 470 msec * Patients must be able to provide written informed consent * Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test prior to study entry; women of childbearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately; men treated or enrolled on this protocol must also agree to use adequate contraception prior to the study, for the duration of study participation, and for 4 months after completion of lapatinib administration * Patients must have no concurrent malignancy except curatively treated basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or carcinoma in situ of the cervix, breast, or bladder; patients with prior malignancies must be disease-free for \>= five years * Patients must be able to swallow medication by mouth, either tablets or dispersed tablets in solution Exclusion Criteria: * Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents * Patients with a history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to lapatinib are ineligible * Patients with prior therapy with EGFR inhibitors are ineligible because treatment with EGFR kinase inhibitors or other EGFR-targeted agents has the potential to deplete the tumor of EGFR-amplified or EGFR mutant cell populations and confound the evaluation of lapatinib effects on EGFR phosphorylation; patients with prior EGFRvIII vaccine are eligible if recurrent tumor is positive for EGFR gene amplification * Patients on enzyme-inducing anti-epileptic drugs (EIAED) are not eligible for treatment on this protocol; patients may be on non-enzyme inducing anti-epileptic drugs or not be taking any anti-epileptic drugs; patients previously treated with EIAED may be enrolled if they have been off the EIAED for 10 days or more prior to the first dose of lapatinib * Patients must not have evidence of significant hematologic, renal, or hepatic dysfunction * Patients must not have evidence of significant intracranial hemorrhage * Patients with uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, hypertension, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements, are ineligible * Pregnant women are excluded from this study because lapatinib has potential for teratogenic or abortifacients effects; because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with lapatinib, breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with lapatinib * Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients on strong cytochrome P450, family 3, subfamily A, polypeptide 4 (CYP3A4) inducers or inhibitors are ineligible * Patients who have acute or currently active/requiring anti-viral therapy hepatic or biliary disease are ineligible (with the exception of patients with Gilbert's syndrome, asymptomatic gallstones, liver metastases from the primary brain tumor, or stable chronic liver disease per investigator assessment) * Patients receiving P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitors are ineligible * Patients who are receiving a drug that has a risk of QTc prolongation if QTc is \>= 460 msec. are ineligible