DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically proven unresectable locally recurrent or metastatic melanoma

* Chemotherapy naive with no more than 2 prior immunotherapy regimens (including cytokines, vaccines, or adjuvant interferon) OR
* Prior chemotherapy failure with no more than 2 prior immunotherapy regimens (including adjuvant interferon) and no more than 1 prior chemotherapy regimen (which may include carmustine) not including antiangiogenesis therapy
* Measurable disease

* At least 20 mm in at least 1 dimension by conventional technique OR at least 10 mm in at least 1 dimension by spiral CT scan
* No disease confined only to the CNS
* No uncontrolled symptomatic brain metastases regardless of other disease sites

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

* 18 and over

Performance status:

* ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy:

* At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic:

* WBC at least 3,000/mm\^3
* Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,200/mm\^3
* Platelet count at least 100,000/mm\^3

Hepatic:

* Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 mg/dL
* AST and/or ALT no greater than 3 times upper limit of normal
* PT normal

Renal:

* Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL OR
* Creatinine clearance greater than 60 mL/min

Pulmonary:

* DLCO at least 70% predicted

Other:

* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception
* No concurrent significant psychiatric or medical illness, including active infections, that would interfere with study therapy or increase risk
* No other malignancy within the past 5 years except curatively treated nonmelanomatous skin cancer, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or superficial bladder cancer

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Chemotherapy:

* At least 4 weeks since prior systemic chemotherapy (at least 6 weeks since prior carmustine or mitomycin) and recovered
* No other concurrent chemotherapy or investigational antineoplastic drugs

Radiotherapy:

* At least 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
* No concurrent radiotherapy

Surgery:

* At least 3 weeks since prior major surgery and recovered

Other:

* At least 4 weeks since other prior anticancer systemic therapy and recovered