DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of hematological malignancy, including any of the following:

  • Chronic myeloid leukemia
  • Acute myeloid leukemia
  • Acute lymphocytic leukemia
  • Myelodysplastic syndromes
  • Lymphoma
• Unlikely to respond to conventional treatment and would benefit from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
• No bulky tumor mass requiring additional involved field radiotherapy
• No large body burden of tumor cells requiring cytoreductive chemotherapy before total body irraditation and cyclophosphamide
• Undergoing conditioning for transplantation at the University of Washington Medical Center

• Availability of 1 of the following types of allogeneic donors:

  • HLA-identical family members

  • Unrelated donors

    • Allele match (match grade 1)
    • One allele mismatch for A, B, C, DRB1 or DQB1 (match grades 2.1 or 2.2)

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 to 65

Performance status

• Not specified

Life expectancy

• Not severely limited by diseases other than malignancy
• Not moribund

Hematopoietic

• Not specified

Hepatic

• Bilirubin no greater than 1.2 mg/dL
• No cirrhosis
• No hepatic fibrosis with bridging

Renal

• Creatinine no greater than 1.2 mg/dL

Cardiovascular

• No coronary artery disease
• No congestive heart failure requiring therapy

Pulmonary

• Oxygen saturation at least 93% (on room air)

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• HIV negative
• No concurrent infection requiring systemic antibiotic or antifungal therapy

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• No prior hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Chemotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics

Endocrine therapy

• Not specified

Radiotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• No prior radiotherapy to the liver or adjacent organs

Surgery

• Not specified

Other

• No concurrent aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen (e.g., Motrin® or Advil®)
• No other concurrent phase I study enrollment