Colony-Stimulating Factors to Relieve Neutropenia in Patients With Recurrent Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the effect of single dose filgrastim-SD/01 vs daily filgrastim (G-CSF) on the duration of neutropenia in course 1 after combination chemotherapy in patients with recurrent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. II. Compare the effect of these regimens on duration of neutropenia in courses 2-4, absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) in courses 1-4, time to ANC recovery in courses 1-4, and safety in these patients. III. Determine the pharmacokinetic profile of these drugs in course 1 in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, open label, multicenter study. Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms. All patients receive etoposide IV over 1 hour on days 1-4, cisplatin IV continuously on days 1-4, methylprednisolone IV over 15 minutes on days 1-5, and cytarabine IV over 2 hours on day 5. Treatment is repeated every 21 days for up to 4 courses. Arm I: Patients receive filgrastim-SD/01 subcutaneously (SQ) on day 6. Arm II: Patients receive filgrastim (G-CSF) SQ daily beginning on day 6 and continuing for 12 days or until blood counts recover. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 60 patients (30 per arm) will be accrued for this study within at least 6 months.