Inclusion Criteria:

- Histologically confirmed renal cell cancer

- Metastatic disease

- Measurable or evaluable disease

- Measurable disease required for phase II

- No untreated CNS metastasis or CNS metastases progressing ≤ 4 weeks after prior
radiotherapy

- Performance status - ECOG 0-1

- At least 12 weeks

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

- Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3

- Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL

- AST ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)

- Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 5 times ULN

- Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dL

- Creatinine ≤ 1.8 mg/dL

- Calcium ≤ ULN

- No untreated hypercalcemia

- No symptomatic congestive heart failure

- No unstable angina pectoris

- No cardiac arrhythmia

- Not pregnant or nursing

- Negative pregnancy test

- Fertile patients must be surgically sterile or use effective contraception

- No uncontrolled diabetes mellitus

- No known severe hypersensitivity to suramin

- No other concurrent uncontrolled illness

- No active or ongoing infection

- No active autoimmune disease

- No neuropathy ≥ grade 2

- No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance

- No other malignancy within the past 5 years except basal cell skin cancer, carcinoma
in situ of the cervix, or localized prostate cancer

- No concurrent filgrastim (G-CSF)

- No more than 2 prior chemotherapy regimens for renal cell cancer (phase II only)

- No concurrent corticosteroid dose more than physiologic replacement levels

- See Disease Characteristics

- At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy

- No concurrent radiotherapy

- Recovered from prior oncologic or other major surgery

- At least 4 weeks since prior major surgery

- No concurrent surgery

- Recovered from all prior anticancer therapy other than alopecia (chronic toxicity <
grade 2)

- At least 4 weeks since prior systemic therapy

- More than 30 days since prior investigational drugs

- Concurrent bisphosphonates allowed