Inclusion Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

- Diagnosis of metastatic cancer

- Tumor overexpresses p53 as assessed by immunohistochemistry (i.e., ≥ 5% tumor cells
stain positive for p53)

- Biopsy must be available to evaluate p53 expression

- Human leukocyte antigens 0201 (HLA-A*0201) positive

- Progressive or recurrent disease after prior standard therapy for metastatic disease

- Patients with melanoma or renal cell cancer must have previously received
aldesleukin

- Patients with other histologies, not including hematologic malignancies, must
have previously received first-line and second-line or higher systemic standard
therapy (or effective salvage chemotherapy regimens)

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

- Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0 or 1

- Life expectancy > 3 months

- Absolute neutrophil count > 1,000/mm^3

- White blood cell (WBC) > 3,000/mm^3

- Platelet count > 100,000/mm^3

- Hemoglobin > 8.0 g/dL

- Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 2.5 times
upper limit of normal

- Serum creatinine ≤ 1.6 mg/dL

- Total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL (< 3.0 mg/dL in patients with Gilbert's syndrome)

- Not pregnant or nursing

- Negative pregnancy test

- Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 4 months after
completion of study treatment

- Patients who have previously received ipilimumab or ticilimumab must have a normal
colonoscopy with normal colonic biopsies

- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody negative

- Hepatitis B antigen and hepatitis C antibody negative (unless antigen negative)

- No primary immunodeficiency (e.g., severe combined immunodeficiency disease)

- No active systemic infections

- No history of severe immediate hypersensitivity reaction to any of the agents used in
this study

- No coagulation disorders

- No myocardial infarction or cardiac arrhythmias

- No history of coronary revascularization

- No obstructive or restrictive pulmonary disease

- No contraindications for high-dose aldesleukin administration

- Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 45% in patients meeting any of the
following criteria:

- History of ischemic heart disease,

- chest pain,

- or clinically significant atrial and/or ventricular arrhythmias including, but
not limited to, atrial fibrillation,

- ventricular tachycardia,

- or second- or third-degree heart block

- At least 60 years of age

- Forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV_1) > 60% predicted in patients meeting any of the
following criteria:

- Prolonged history of cigarette smoking (> 20 pack/year within the past 2 years)

- Symptoms of respiratory dysfunction

- No other major medical illness of the cardiovascular,

- respiratory,

- or immune system

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

- See Disease Characteristics

- Recovered from prior therapy

- More than 4 weeks since prior and no concurrent systemic steroid therapy

- More than 4 weeks since other prior systemic therapy

- More than 6 weeks since prior ipilimumab