Gefitinib Plus Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Bladder Cancer

Inclusion Criteria: Biopsy proven transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelial tract (bladder, ureter, renal pelvis or urethra); histologic documentation of metastatic/recurrent disease is not required; clinical, but not pathologic staging, is required Metastatic (N2, N3 or M1) urothelial tract carcinoma; patients must not be candidates for potentially curative surgery or radiation therapy Patients must have measurable disease as defined below: Measurable disease: lesions 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; the bladder is not a site of measurable disease Non-measurable disease: all other lesions, including small lesions (longest diameter < 20 mm with conventional techniques or < 10 mm with spiral CT scan) and truly non-measurable lesions; lesions that are considered non-measurable include the following: Bone lesions Leptomeningeal disease Ascites Pleural/pericardial effusion Inflammatory breast disease Lymphangitis cutis/pulmonis Abdominal masses that are not confirmed and followed by imaging techniques Cystic lesions Prior treatment: No prior systemic chemotherapy except single-agent chemotherapy used as a radiosensitization agent; prior intravesical chemotherapy is permissible; prior adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy is not permissible No prior systemic therapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma including investigational therapies such as, but not limited to, agents targeting the HER2/neu, signal transduction (including EGFR), angiogenic, immune, and cell cycle pathways No prior treatment with ZD1839 > 4 weeks and fully recovered from major surgery, radiation, or intravesical chemotherapy Tumor tissue from the primary tumor or from biopsy of a metastatic site must be available for EGFR expression determination; when tissue specimens from both primary and metastatic sites are available, both must be submitted for EGFR testing; expression of EGFR is not required No cytochrome P450, family 3, subfamily A, polypeptide 4 (CYP3A4) inducers within 7 days prior to starting protocol therapy and while on protocol treatment; CYP3A4 inducers include phenytoin, carbamazepine, barbiturates, rifampin, St John's Wort, dexamethasone, modafinil, and rifapentine; single doses of dexamethasone used as an antiemetic are permitted No evidence of brain metastases Patient must have no evidence of: > grade 1 pre-existing sensory or motor neuropathy Active severe chronic gastrointestinal disorders including liver disease, diarrheal or emetic disorders, or malabsorptive conditions causing nausea or diarrhea Active severe chronic desquamative cutaneous disorder Active severe corneal disease or inflammatory ocular disorder No "currently active" second malignancy other than non-melanoma skin cancers; patients are not considered to have a "currently active" malignancy if they have completed therapy and considered by their physician to be at less than 30% risk of relapse No patients with uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements No human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG]) performance status 0-2 Granulocytes >= 1,500/ul Platelet count >= 100,000/ul Bilirubin =< 1.25 x upper limits of normal Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =< 2.0 x upper limits of normal Calculated creatinine clearance >= 50 ml/min Exclusion Criteria: Patients must not be pregnant or engaged in nursing; men and women of reproductive age must agree to practice effective contraception in order to participate in this study