Vorinostat and Decitabine in Treating Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors or Relapsed or Refractory Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, or Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Establish the maximum tolerated dose and recommended phase II dose of vorinostat in conjunction with decitabine in patients with advanced solid tumors or relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, or chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. Identify the minimal effective dose of vorinostat in conjunction with decitabine that will lead to DNA demethylation, histone acetylation, and gene reactivation with tolerable toxicity in these patients. II. Determine the pharmacokinetic profiles of vorinostat and decitabine in these patients. Correlate pharmacokinetic profiles of vorinostat and decitabine with toxicity and biological activity in these patients. III. Assess the antitumor activity of vorinostat and decitabine in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a parallel group, multicenter, dose-escalation study of vorinostat. Patients are stratified according to disease (solid tumors or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma \[NHL\] vs hematological malignancies). Patients receive 1 of 2 dosing regimens. Regimen 1 (sequential dosing): Patients receive oral vorinostat two or three times daily on days 6-21 or days 6-12 (patients with solid tumors or NHL only) and decitabine IV over 1 hour on days 1-5. Courses repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Regimen 2 (concurrent dosing): Patients receive oral vorinostat two or three times daily on days 1-21, days 1-14 (patients with hematological malignancies only), or two times daily on days 1-12 (patients with solid tumors or NHL only) and decitabine IV over 1 hour on days 1-5. Courses repeat every 28 days or 21 days (patients with hematological malignancies only) in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. In both groups, cohorts of 3-6 patients receive escalating doses of vorinostat until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined. The MTD is defined as the dose preceding that at which 2 of 3 or 2 of 6 patients experience dose-limiting toxicity. The dose level just below MTD would be declared the recommended phase II dose (RPTD). Up to 10 patients are treated at the RPTD. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed at 4 weeks.