Vorinostat and Trastuzumab in Treating Patients With Metastatic or Locally Recurrent Breast Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Negative pregnancy test
• •Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• •No active or ongoing infection
• •No history of allergic reaction to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to vorinostat or other agents used in study
• •No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance
• •No other uncontrolled illness
• •More than 3 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin; 1 week for capecitabine) and recovered
• •More than 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
• •Recovered from prior therapy
• •At least 2 weeks since prior valproic acid
• •More than 4 weeks since prior investigational agents
• •More than 4 weeks since prior lapatinib ditosylate
• •No concurrent combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive patients
• •Measurable disease, defined as \>= 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion \> 20 mm by conventional techniques or \> 10 mm by spiral CT scan
• •No other concurrent investigational agents
• •Concurrent bisphosphonates allowed provided therapy was initiated prior to study treatment
• •No other concurrent anticancer therapy
• •Recurrent or progressive disease while receiving prior trastuzumab (Herceptin) (with or without chemotherapy) OR relapsed within 3 months of last dose of prior adjuvant trastuzumab for metastatic disease
• •Histologically confirmed breast cancer
• •Must overexpress HER-2 gene
• •Metastatic or chest wall recurrent disease
• •Site of measurable disease must not have been irradiated (except chest wall recurrence treated with adjuvant radiation therapy)
• •No untreated brain metastases
• •Previously treated brain metastasis responsive to radiotherapy and/or surgery allowed provided the brain is not the sole site of measurable disease
• •ECOG 0-2
• •Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mm\^3
• •Platelet count \>= 100,000/mm\^3
• •Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/dL
• •AST and ALT =\< 2 times upper limit of normal
• •Bilirubin =\< 1.5 mg/dL (3 mg/dL in the presence of Gilbert's disease provided direct bilirubin is normal)
• •Creatinine =\< 1.5 mg/dL
• •LVEF normal by nuclear scan or echocardiogram
• •No evidence of PR prolongation or AV block by EKG
• •No symptomatic congestive heart failure
• •No unstable angina pectoris
• •No cardiac arrhythmia