FR901228 Alone or Combined With Rituximab and Fludarabine in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Low-Grade B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. For phase 2: is to assess the clinical efficacy (complete and partial response rates) of single agent depsipeptide. II. For phase 1: is to assess the feasibility of adding Depsipeptide to a regimen of Rituximab and Fludarabine and to establish the MTD of Depsipeptide in this combination. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To correlate disease response (clinical outcome) with the changes in histone acetylation assays. II. Study the expression of death receptors of DR4 and DR5 after treatment with depsipeptide. III. Assessment of minimal residual disease by immune histochemistry. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, phase II study of single-agent FR901228 followed by a phase I, dose-escalation study of FR901228. PHASE II: Patients receive FR901228 IV over 4 hours on days 1, 8, and 15. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients who achieve a complete or partial remission receive 2 additional courses (for a total of 6 courses). Patients with stable disease after 4 courses or progressive disease at any time after 2 courses proceed to the phase I portion of the study. PHASE I: Patients receive rituximab IV over approximately 4-8 hours on day 1; fludarabine IV over 10-30 minutes on days 2-4; and FR901228 IV over 4 hours on days 2, 9, and 16. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Cohorts of 3-6 patients receive escalating doses of FR901228 until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined. The MTD is defined as the dose preceding that at which 2 of 6 patients experience dose-limiting toxicity. Patients are followed for up to 3 years from study entry.