Liposomal Vincristine in Treating Patients With Refractory or Relapsed Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma including:
• * Peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified
• * Anaplastic large null-/T-cell lymphoma
• * Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma including:
• * Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma with sclerosis
• * Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma
• * Immunoblastic B-cell lymphoma
• * T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma
• * Anaplastic large B-cell lymphoma
• At least one bidimensionally measurable lesion with clearly defined margins at least 2 cm in the largest dimension by physical examination or CT scan
• No prior or active CNS lymphoma or AIDS-related lymphoma
• Must have received 2 or more prior chemotherapy courses from time of diagnosis of aggressive lymphoma or from time of biopsy-proven transformation from indolent to aggressive
• * Prior first and second-line therapy must have been combination chemotherapy
• * Prior first-line chemotherapy regimen must have contained anthracycline
• * Must have had at least a minor response to first-line therapy
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age:
• 18 and over
• Performance status:
• ECOG 0-3
• Life expectancy:
• Not specified
• Hematopoietic:
• Granulocyte count at least 500/mm\^3 (unless due to lymphoma bone marrow involvement)
• Platelet count at least 50,000/mm\^3 (unless due to lymphoma bone marrow involvement)
• Hepatic:
• Bilirubin no greater than 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• ALT no greater than 4 times ULN
• Alkaline phosphatase no greater than 4 times ULN
• Renal:
• Not specified
• Neurologic:
• No prior neurological disorders unrelated to chemotherapy (including familial neurological diseases or acquired demyelinating disorders)
• No neuromuscular impairment (neuromotor, neurosensory, or neurocerebellar)
• No prior grade 3 or 4 sensory or motor neuropathy related to chemotherapy
• Other:
• No uncontrolled severe medical illness or infection
• HIV negative
• No other malignancies within the past 5 years except curatively resected basal cell skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy:
• See Radiotherapy
• No prior allogeneic bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation
• At least 4 weeks since prior immunotherapy
• No concurrent biological agents
• Chemotherapy:
• See Disease Characteristics
• At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy
• Endocrine therapy:
• At least 4 weeks since prior corticosteroids at a dose greater than 10 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent
• Radiotherapy:
• Prior involved-field radiotherapy allowed if irradiated area is not the only source of measurable disease
• Prior total body radiotherapy with high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation allowed
• At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No concurrent radiotherapy to any disease site
• Surgery:
• At least 4 weeks since prior major surgery except for diagnosis of lymphoma
• No concurrent surgical removal of any indicator lesion
• Other:
• At least 4 weeks since prior alternative or investigational anticancer treatment
• No other concurrent systemic anticancer therapy
• No other concurrent investigational drug
• No concurrent phenytoin
• No concurrent hepatic drug metabolism inhibitors or inducers (cytochrome P450 isoenzymes in the CYP 3A subfamily)