RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die.

PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of 506U78 in treating patients who have recurrent or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or T-cell lymphoma.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the response rate, failure-free survival, and progression-free survival of patients with recurrent or refractory indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or peripheral T-cell lymphoma when treated with 506U78. II. Assess the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of this treatment in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients receive 506U78 IV over 2 hours on days 1, 3, and 5. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed every 3 months.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 51-111 patients will be accrued for this study within 26-37 months.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Diagnosis of recurrent or refractory indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or peripheral T-cell lymphoma Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia Lymphoplasmacytoid Small lymphocytic Marginal zone Follicular small cleaved cell Follicular mixed cell All peripheral T-cell entities in REAL classification No prior or concurrent evidence of transformation to large cell or follicular large cell lymphoma No B-cell anaplastic large cell lymphoma, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or any of its variants, and/or histologic transformation of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma Bidimensionally measurable disease No active CNS disease No pericardial effusion

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 16 and over Performance status: Zubrod 0-2 Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: Unless due to marrow or splenic involvement by lymphoma: Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,000/mm3 Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3 Hepatic: Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) SGPT no greater than 2.5 times ULN Renal: Creatinine clearance greater than 50 mL/min Cardiovascular: No history of symptomatic cardiac dysfunction Other: Not pregnant or nursing Negative pregnancy test Fertile patients must use effective contraception HIV negative No other prior malignancy within the past 5 years except curatively treated basal cell skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix No sensory or motor neuropathy grade 2 or greater No history of seizures No medical, psychiatric, or social condition that would preclude study entry

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: No more than 1 prior immunotherapy regimen No prior stem cell or bone marrow transplantation Chemotherapy: No more than 3 prior systemic chemotherapy regimens No prior 506U78 Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: Not specified Surgery: Not specified Other: At least 3 weeks since prior anticancer treatment Prior topical treatment or psoralen-ultraviolet-light therapy allowed