Afatinib in Advanced Refractory Urothelial Cancer

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer that is not amenable to surgical treatment * Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed urothelial tract carcinoma; patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, upper tract, or urethra are eligible * Patients must have measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded) as \>= 20 mm with conventional techniques or as \>= 10 mm with spiral computed tomography (CT) scan for the evaluation of measurable disease (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 \[RECIST v1.1\]) * Patients must have evidence of disease progression prior to enrollment * All patients must have received a prior platinum-based chemotherapy regimen for treatment of urothelial cancer and must now be considered refractory to platinum-based chemotherapy; patients may have received the platinum-containing regimen either in the peri-operative or metastatic setting * Patients may have received up to one line of prior systemic chemotherapy for recurrent/metastatic disease; if a platinum-based regimen was received both in the peri-operative setting and again in the metastatic setting, this will be considered 1 line of chemotherapy * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1 * Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,000/mcL * Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL * Hemoglobin \>= 8.5g/dL * Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 institutional upper limit of normal (IULN) * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT)(serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 2.5 X IULN * Calculated creatinine clearance \>= 30 mL/min by the modified Cockcroft and Gault Formula OR glomerular filtration rate \>= 30 mL/min/body surface area (BSA) by Modification of Diet in Renal Disease or Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formula * Women and men of child-bearing potential 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 * Patients must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document Exclusion Criteria: * Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents * Patients with untreated known brain metastases, or treated brain metastases that are clinically unstable * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Women known to be pregnant * Women who are breastfeeding and who are unwilling to stop breastfeeding prior to study entry * Patients with known prior human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive status on combination antiretroviral therapy are ineligible; known prior HIV-positive patients with CD4+ =\< 500/mm\^3 are ineligible (HIV testing is not required as part of this study) * Pre-existing interstitial lung disease * Inability to take oral medications * Prior therapy with afatinib