Flavopiridol in Treating Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or Prolymphocytic Leukemia

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the complete response (CR) and overall response rate (CR + Partial Response \[PR\]) of this regimen. II. To assess the toxicity profile of this regimen. III. To examine response duration, progression-free survival and overall survival, following this treatment. IV. To assess the pharmacokinetics of this novel schedule of administration. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the influence of adverse prognostic factors including interphase cytogenetics, VH mutational status, ZAP-70 expression, CD38, and p53 mutational status with response to flavopiridol treatment. II. To determine the influence of flavopiridol treatment on serial measurements of mcl-1 (mRNA and protein), HIF-1 (mRNA and protein), NF-kappaB activity, IkappaB, IkappaB phosphorylation, GSK-beta, and IL-6 down-stream targets. III. To assess the relationship of drug induced apoptosis and mitochondrial perturbation of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) cells in vitro and subsequent relationship to clinical response and tumor lysis in vivo. IV. To examine cytokine levels (IL-6, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha) during treatment with flavopiridol. V. To assess pharmacokinetics (PK) to determine the variability of PK and PD analyses between treatment administrations and correlation with specific Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) potentially involved in flavopiridol disposition. VI. To assess differences in diagnosis and relapse samples to investigate mechanisms of acquired flavopiridol resistance in primary CLL cells. OUTLINE: This is an open-label study. Patients receive flavopiridol IV over 30 minutes followed by a 4-hour infusion on days 1, 8, 15, and 22. Treatment repeats every 42 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients achieving at least a partial remission (PR) and whose PR lasts for \> 6 months after completion of treatment may receive 6 additional courses of flavopiridol.Patients are followed at 2 months and then every 3 months for 5 years.