OBJECTIVES:

• Determine response rate to cisplatin, cytarabine, and dexamethasone (DHAP) plus rituximab in patients with relapsed CD20+ B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• Determine the percentage of patients able to proceed to transplant after two courses of this treatment regimen.
• Determine the duration of response and overall survival of the patients not proceeding to transplant after two courses of this treatment regimen.

OUTLINE: Patients receive rituximab IV on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 for the first course only. Patients receive dexamethasone orally or IV on days 1-4, cisplatin IV continuously for 24 hours on day 1, cytarabine IV over 3 hours every 12 hours for 2 doses on day 2, and sargramostim (GM-CSF) subcutaneously on days 3-12 or until blood counts recover. Chemotherapy repeats every 21 days for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year, every 4 months for 1 year, and then every 6 months for 3 years.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 17-50 patients will be accrued for this study within 11 months.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed CD20+ B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

  • Relapsed following chemotherapy and eligible for platinum-containing regimen

• Measurable disease

  • Must be at least 1.5 x 1.5 cm

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy:

• Not specified

Hematopoietic:

• Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm^3
• Platelet count at least 75,000/mm^3

Hepatic:

• Bilirubin no greater than 2.0 mg/dL

Renal:

• Creatinine no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal

Cardiovascular:

• No uncontrolled hypertension

Other:

• HIV negative
• No other active malignancy
• No uncontrolled diabetes mellitus
• No uncontrolled peptic ulcer disease
• No uncontrolled infection
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• Not specified

Chemotherapy:

• See Disease Characteristics

Endocrine therapy:

• Not specified

Radiotherapy:

• Not specified

Surgery:

• Not specified