Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of malignant disease of any stage; (stage I through stage IV)
* No prior history of chemotherapy for any malignancy
* Scheduled to receive intravenous HEC (highly emetogenic chemotherapy) (either cisplatin-containing regimen or doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide \[AC\]); cisplatin, given on a single day, at a dose of \>= 70 mg/m\^2, with or without other chemotherapy agent(s) OR doxorubicin (60 mg/m\^2) plus cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m\^2)
* No nausea or vomiting =\< 24 hours prior to registration
* Negative pregnancy test (serum or urine) done =\< 7 days prior to registration, for women of childbearing potential only

\* A female of childbearing potential is a sexually mature female who: 1) has not undergone a hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy; or 2) has not been naturally postmenopausal for at least 12 consecutive months (i.e., has had menses at any time in the preceding 12 consecutive months)
* No known diagnosis of dementia; patients with stable treated brain metastases are eligible to participate
* No known history of central nervous system (CNS) disease (e.g. seizure disorder)
* No treatment with another antipsychotic agent such as olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine, clozapine, phenothiazine or butyrophenone =\< 30 days prior to registration
* No chronic phenothiazine administration as an antipsychotic agent (patients may receive prochlorperazine and other phenothiazines as rescue anti-emetic therapy but not within 24 hours prior to registration)
* No use of amifostine within 7 days prior to registration
* No radiotherapy within 7 days prior to registration or planned for one week after the current dose of chemotherapy
* No use of quinolone antibiotic therapy within 7 days prior to registration
* No chronic alcoholism (as determined by the investigator)
* No known hypersensitivity to olanzapine
* No known uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia, no known uncontrolled congestive heart failure, or no acute myocardial infarction within the previous six months
* No history of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, i.e., no diabetic ketoacidosis; within 6 months prior to registration; patients are eligible if they have controlled diabetes on diet, oral agents, and/or insulin
* Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0, 1 or 2
* Patients must be able to read and comprehend English; local translation, including verbal translation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) is not permitted
* Serum creatinine =\< 2.0 mg/dL =\< 120 days prior to registration
* Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =\< 3 x upper limit of normal (ULN) =\< 120 days prior to registration