OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the maximum tolerated dose of oral penclomedine that can be administered daily for 5 days every 4 weeks in patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies. II. Describe and quantitate the toxic effects of penclomedine administered on this schedule in these patients. III. Study the clinical pharmacology and metabolism of penclomedine on this schedule, and seek pharmacodynamic correlates of pharmacologic parameters with clinical endpoints. IV. Study the bioavailability of oral penclomedine, and qualitatively compare metabolite profiles produced following oral and intravenous administration in these patients. V. Seek preliminary evidence of therapeutic activity of penclomedine in patients with advanced cancer.