Thalidomide in Treating Patients With Relapsed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Inclusion Criteria

• •Diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) evidenced by monoclonal population of mature CD5+, CD19+, CD23+, and B cells
• •Relapsed after prior treatment for CLL
• •Active disease with 1 or more of the following characteristics:
• •* At least 10% weight loss within the past 6 months
• •* Fever greater than 100.5 degrees F for at least 2 weeks without evidence of infection
• •* Night sweats without evidence of infection
• •* Evidence of progressive marrow failure with anemia (hemoglobin less than 11 g/dL) and/or thrombocytopenia (platelet count less than 100,000/mm\^3) (i.e., any stage III or IV disease)
• •* Autoimmune anemia and/or thrombocytopenia poorly responsive to corticosteroid therapy
• •* Massive or progressive splenomegaly (i.e., greater than 6 cm below the left costal margin or more than 50% increase over 2 months)
• •* Progressive lymphadenopathy (i.e., more than 50% increase over 2 months)
• •* Progressive lymphocytosis (not due to corticosteroids) with an increase of more than 50% over a 2-month period or an anticipated doubling time of less than 6 months
• •* Marked hypogammaglobulinemia or the development of a monoclonal protein in the absence of any of the above criteria for active disease are not considered evidence of active disease
• •Measurable disease
• •* Absolute lymphocyte count greater than 5,000/mm\^3
• •No bulky lymph node disease greater than 10 cm in at least 1 dimension except splenomegaly
• •Performance status - ECOG 0-2
• •Absolute neutrophil count at least 500/mm\^3
• •Platelet count at least 20,000/mm\^3 (in absence of sargramostim \[GM-CSF\])
• •Hemoglobin at least 8 g/dL
• •Bilirubin no greater than 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• •AST no greater than 2.5 times ULN
• •Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL
• •Creatinine clearance at least 60 mL/min
• •No other active malignancy
• •No peripheral neuropathy (sensory) grade 2 or greater
• •No active infection
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Negative pregnancy test
• •Fertile patients must use 1 highly effective method of contraception AND 1 additional effective method of contraception for at least 4 weeks before, during, and for 4 weeks after study completion
• •No prior allogeneic bone marrow transplantation
• •At least 10 days since prior filgrastim (G-CSF) or GM-CSF
• •No more than 3 prior chemotherapy regimens
• •At least 30 days since prior chemotherapy
• •No concurrent corticosteroids except for adrenal insufficiency