OBJECTIVES:
* Determine the response rate and maximum response in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with gemcitabine, cisplatin, and dexamethasone.
* Determine time to progression in patients treated with this regimen who are not undergoing stem cell transplantation.
* Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients.
OUTLINE: This is an open-label study.
Patients receive gemcitabine IV over 1 hour on days 1 and 8, cisplatin IV over 3 hours on day 1, and oral dexamethasone twice daily on days 1-4. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Patients are followed until disease progression.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 18-35 patients will be accrued for this study.
