DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including any of the following subtypes:

  • Grade 1, 2, or 3 follicular center lymphoma
  • Marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (nodal or extranodal)
  • Mantle cell lymphoma

• Newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory disease

  • Most recent therapy must have failed to induce a complete response (i.e., persistent disease by CT scan or PET scan) disease progression or recurrence after the most recent therapy (for patients with previously treated disease)
• Relapsed disease after prior stem cell transplantation allowed
• Measurable disease by CT scan

• No known brain metastases

  • Previously treated brain metastases allowed provided they are controlled AND there is no requirement for steroids within the past 2 months

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status (PS) 0-2 OR Karnofsky PS 60-100%
• Life expectancy > 3 months
• ANC ≥ 1,000/mm³
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³

• Total bilirubin normal

  • Elevated unconjugated bilirubin allowed (i.e., Gilbert's disease)
• AST/ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal
• Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to vorinostat

• No concurrent uncontrolled illness including, but not limited to, any of the following:

  • Ongoing or active infection
  • Symptomatic congestive heart failure
  • Unstable angina pectoris
  • Cardiac arrhythmia
  • Psychiatric illness or social situation that would limit compliance with study requirements
• No HIV positivity
• No other active malignancies
• No active, transplant-related infections (i.e., fungal or viral infection)
• No active acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) of any grade
• No chronic GVHD other than mild skin, oral, or ocular GVHD that does not require systemic immunosuppression

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• Recovered from prior therapy
• More than 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• More than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (2 weeks for low-dose chlorambucil; 6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C)

• No more than 4 prior chemotherapy regimens

  • Steroids alone or local radiotherapy are not considered prior regimens
  • Rituximab alone is not considered a prior regimen, but tositumomab (Bexxar) and ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) are considered prior regimens
• More than 2 days since prior steroids
• At least 2 weeks since prior valproic acid
• At least 3 months since prior autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT)
• At least 6 months since prior allogeneic SCT
• No other concurrent hormonal therapy, biological therapy, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy

• No concurrent complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy

  • Routine vitamin supplementation allowed
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• No other concurrent anticancer therapy