Inclusion Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

- Suspected adenocarcinoma of the pancreas with resectable disease (part I)

- Scheduled to have surgical resection at the Johns Hopkins Hospital

- Participation in part I of the study with informative mouse xenograft data (part II)

- Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the pancreas
not amenable to curative treatment (part II)

- The following diagnoses are ineligible:

- Adenosquamous cell

- Islet cell

- Cystadenoma or cystadenocarcinoma

- Carcinoid

- Small or large cell carcinoma or lymphoma

- Patient is ineligible if any of the following occur (part II):

- Xenograft data is noninformative

- Tumors do not take in the mice or do not respond to any of the selected agents

- Disease progression occurs before mice data is available

- No adenocarcinoma arising from a site other than the pancreas (e.g., distal common
bile duct, ampulla of vater, or periampullary duodenum)

- No known brain metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

- ECOG performance status 0 or 1

- Life expectancy > 12 weeks

- Not pregnant or nursing

- Negative pregnancy test

- Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 30 days after study
completion

- WBC > 3,500/mm^3

- Absolute neutrophil count > 1,500/mm^3

- Platelet count > 100,000/mm^3

- Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL

- Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL

- Bilirubin ≤ 2 mg/dL

- ALT, AST, and alkaline phosphatase ≤ 5 times upper limit of normal

- No uncontrolled medical conditions that could potentially increase the risk of toxic
effects or complications when treated with chemotherapy

- No gastrointestinal tract disease resulting in an inability to take oral medication

- No disease requiring IV alimentation

- No active peptic ulcer disease

- No active infections

- No history of another neoplasm except for nonmetastatic, nonmelanoma skin cancers ≤ 5
years prior to enrollment

- No unresolved chronic toxicity (except alopecia) > grade 2 from previous anticancer
therapy

- Patients must not have documented history of clinically significant cardiovascular
disease including any of the following:

- Myocardial infarction within the past 12 months

- Unstable angina

- Peripheral vascular disease ≥ grade 2

- Uncontrolled congestive heart failure

- Uncontrolled hypertension (i.e., systolic blood pressure [BP] > 170 mm Hg and/or
diastolic BP > 95 mm Hg)

- HIV negative

- Hepatitis B and C negative

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

- No prior treatment for recurrent disease

- More than 30 days since prior chemotherapy

- More than 4 weeks since prior surgery (excluding minor procedures, dental work, skin
biopsy, etc.)

- No prior surgical procedures affecting absorption