Temozolomide and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage IV Malignant Melanoma With Measurable and Unresectable Cancer of the Central Nervous System

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide, use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining temozolomide with radiation therapy may make the tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy and kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving temozolomide together with radiation therapy works in treating patients with stage IV malignant melanoma with measurable and unresectable cancer limited to the central nervous system.