Sunitinib Malate With or Without Gemcitabine Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Advanced Kidney Cancer That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

OBJECTIVES: Primary * To evaluate the response rate to sunitinib malate with vs without gemcitabine hydrochloride in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid features. Secondary * To evaluate progression-free survival of these patients. * To evaluate overall survival of these patients. * To describe the toxic effects of both sunitinib malate alone and in combination with gemcitabine hydrochloride in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to risk (good risk \[clear cell and \< 20% sarcomatoid and performance status (PS) 0\] vs intermediate risk \[20-50% sarcomatoid and PS 0\] vs poor risk \[non-clear cell or \> 50% sarcomatoid or PS 1 or non-clear cell\]). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm A: Patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, 22, and 29 and oral sunitinib malate once daily on days 1-14 and 22-35. * Arm B: Patients receive oral sunitinib malate once daily on days 1-14 and 22-35. In both arms, courses repeat every 42 days for up to 1 year in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3 months for 2 years and then every 6 months for 1 year. ACTUAL ACCRUAL: A total of 87 patients (47 in arm A and 40 in arm B) were accrued to this study.