OBJECTIVES:~Primary~Determine the 6-month progression-free survival of patients with unresectable or metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with gefitinib and PEG-interferon alfa-2b.~Secondary~Determine the response rate (by RECIST criteria), duration of response, time to treatment failure, and overall survival of patients treated with this regimen.~Assess toxicity and tolerability of this regimen in these patients.~Determine the pre-treatment expression of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) protein, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and p27, and correlate with response to treatment.~Determine post-treatment alteration of EGFR and p27 expression in patients with tumors accessible for serial biopsy.~Assess changes in EGFR levels in buccal epithelial cells in patients treated with this regimen.~OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.~Patients receive oral gefitinib once daily and PEG-interferon alfa-2b subcutaneously once weekly in weeks 1-6. Treatment repeats every 6 weeks for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with a partial response or stable disease after completion of course 2 continue to receive gefitinib alone as above in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.~After completion of study treatment, patients are followed periodically for up to 2 years.~PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 39 patients will be accrued for this study.
RATIONALE: Gefitinib may stop the growth of kidney cancer by blocking blood flow to the tumor and by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. PEG-interferon alfa-2b may interfere with the growth of tumor cells and slow the growth of kidney cancer. Giving gefitinib together with PEG-interferon alfa-2b may kill more tumor cells.~PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving gefitinib together with PEG-interferon alfa-2b works in treating patients with unresectable or metastatic kidney cancer.