Inclusion Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

- Histologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

- No fibrolamellar subtype HCC

- Advanced disease

- Not a candidate for surgical resection or liver transplantation

- Measurable disease

- Edges of the indicator lesion must be clearly distinct on CT scan

- Lesions that measure at least 1 cm but less than 2 cm only must use spiral CT
imaging for both pre- and post-treatment tumor assessments

- Child's Pugh classification A or B

- No primary brain tumor, brain metastasis, or other CNS diseases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

- ECOG performance status 0-1

- Platelet count ≥ 75,000/mm^3

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

- Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL

- Albumin ≥ 2.5 g/dL

- Total bilirubin ≤ upper limit of normal (ULN)

- AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN

- Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 5 times ULN

- Urine protein:creatinine ratio < 1.0 OR 24-hour urine protein < 1,000 mg

- Not pregnant or nursing

- No nursing for ≥ 6 months after completion of study treatment

- Negative pregnancy test

- Fertile patients must use effective contraception during study and for ≥ 6 months
after completion of study treatment

- No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or
biological composition to bevacizumab or erlotinib hydrochloride

- No abnormalities of the cornea, including any of the following:

- History of dry eye syndrome or Sjögren's syndrome

- Congenital abnormality (e.g., Fuch's dystrophy)

- Abnormal slit-lamp examination using a vital dye (e.g., fluorescein,
Bengal-Rose)

- Abnormal corneal sensitivity test (e.g., Schirmer test or similar tear
production test)

- No stroke or transient ischemic attack within the past 6 months

- No uncontrolled high blood pressure, history of labile hypertension, or history of
poor compliance with an antihypertensive regimen

- No unstable angina pectoris within the past 6 months

- No symptomatic congestive heart failure

- No myocardial infarction within the past 6 months

- No serious uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmias

- No uncontrolled diabetes mellitus

- No active or uncontrolled infection

- No interstitial pneumonia or extensive and symptomatic interstitial fibrosis of the
lung

- No impaired GI function or disease that may significantly alter the absorption of
erlotinib hydrochloride (e.g., ulcerative disease, uncontrolled nausea, vomiting, or
diarrhea, malabsorption syndrome, or bowel obstruction)

- Able to swallow tablets

- No psychiatric illness or social situation that would limit compliance with study
requirements

- No history of nephrotic-range proteinuria

- No history of bleeding diathesis

- No encephalopathy

- No serious nonhealing wounds, skin ulcers, or bone fractures

- No clinically significant peripheral vascular disease

- No known hypersensitivity to Chinese hamster ovary cell products or other recombinant
human antibodies

- No history of a GI bleed that required procedural intervention (e.g., variceal
banding, surgical shunt, transvenous intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt [TIPS]) within
the past 3 months

- No abdominal fistula, GI perforation, or intra-abdominal abscess within the past 28
days

- No significant traumatic injury within the past 28 days

- No other prior malignancy within the past 5 years except for the following:

- Adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer

- Adequately treated in situ cervical cancer

- Stage I or II cancer from which the patient is currently in complete remission

- Stage I chronic lymphocytic leukemia

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

- Recovered from all therapy-related toxicities

- No more than 1 prior systemic or liver directed drug therapy including transarterial
chemoembolization (TACE) (multiple TACEs will count as 1 prior regimen irrespective
of their total numbers) that were used for HCC

- No chemotherapy for HCC within the past 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or
mitomycin C)

- No biological therapy or immunotherapy for HCC within the past 4 weeks

- Prior surgery, regional therapy (e.g., transarterial embolization), liver
transplantation, or other liver-directed ablative therapies of discrete lesions
allowed provided any related progressive or recurrent disease is documented

- No cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation, ethanol injection, or photodynamic therapy
within the past 6 weeks

- Indicator lesions must be outside the area of prior treatment OR if the lesion
is inside the area of prior treatment, there must be clear evidence of disease
progression associated with that lesion

- No major surgery (e.g., laparotomy), open biopsy, or minor surgery (e.g., insertion
of a vascular access device) within the past 4 weeks

- No core biopsy within the past 7 days

- No radiotherapy within the past 4 weeks

- No prior antiangiogenesis agent or antiepidermal growth factor receptor drug

- No prior treatment with hepatic arterial infusion with chemotherapy or yttrium Y
90-labeled microspheres

- No other concurrent investigational agents

- No concurrent combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive patients

- No other concurrent anticancer therapy

- No concurrent prophylactic hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors

- Concurrent full-dose anticoagulants (e.g., warfarin) with INR > 1.2 allowed provided
the following criteria are met:

- An in-range INR (usually between 2 and 3) on a stable dose of oral anticoagulant
(or on a stable dose of low molecular weight heparin)

- No active bleeding or pathological condition that carries a high risk of
bleeding (e.g., tumor involving major vessels, gastrointestinal [GI] ulceration,
or known varices)

- No concurrent major surgical procedures