Gemcitabine in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed, Relapsed, or Chemotherapy-Resistant Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Histologically confirmed mantle cell lymphoma meeting 1 of the following criteria:
• •* Newly diagnosed
• •* Chemotherapy resistant
• •* Relapsed disease after no more than 2 prior lines of chemotherapy
• •Measurable disease
• •* At least 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion ≥ 11 mm by CT scan
• •No prior or current CNS lymphoma or lymphomatous meningosis
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Age
• •18 and over
• •Performance status
• •WHO 0-1
• •Life expectancy
• •Not specified
• •Hematopoietic
• •Neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm\^3 (1,000/mm\^3 in case of bone marrow infiltration)
• •Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3 (75,000/mm\^3 in case of bone marrow infiltration)
• •Hepatic
• •Bilirubin ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• •Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 2 times ULN
• •AST and ALT ≤ 2 times ULN
• •No active hepatitis
• •Renal
• •Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min
• •Cardiovascular
• •No congestive heart failure
• •No New York Heart Association class III or IV heart disease
• •No unstable angina pectoris
• •No significant cardiac arrhythmia or arrhythmia requiring chronic treatment
• •No myocardial infarction within the past 3 months
• •Immunologic
• •No active autoimmune disease
• •No ongoing infection (e.g., HIV)
• •Other
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Negative pregnancy test
• •Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 12 months after study participation
• •No other malignancy within the past 5 years except nonmelanoma skin cancer or adequately treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• •No uncontrolled diabetes mellitus
• •No gastric ulcers
• •No other uncontrolled medical condition that would preclude study participation
• •PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• •Biologic therapy
• •No concurrent thalidomide
• •Chemotherapy
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •Endocrine therapy
• •Not specified
• •Radiotherapy
• •Prior radiotherapy allowed provided indicator lesions were not in the irradiated field
• •No concurrent radiotherapy to the lungs or mediastinum
• •Surgery
• •Not specified
• •Other
• •More than 30 days since prior systemic anticancer treatment
• •More than 30 days since prior clinical trial participation
• •No other concurrent anticancer drugs
• •No other concurrent experimental drugs