Fenretinide and Rituximab in Treating Patients With B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate the safety of fenretinide delivered in a 5 of 7 day regimen. (Phase I) II. To estimate the efficacy (response rates) of fenretinide + rituximab in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). (Phase II) SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To perform pharmacokinetic studies on patients receiving fenretinide. (Phase I) II. To determine the intratumoral concentrations of fenretinide. (Phase I) III. To evaluate the in vivo mechanism of action of fenretinide. (Phase I) IV. To identify the predictors of response to fenretinide. (Phase I) V. To estimate the response rates, positron emission tomography (PET) response, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), time to progression (TTP), and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients treated on this study. (Phase I) VI. To estimate the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), time to progression (TTP), disease-free survival (DFS), and PET responses of patients treated on this study. (Phase II) VII. To perform pharmacokinetic studies on patients receiving fenretinide. (Phase II) VIII. To determine the intratumoral concentration of fenretinide. (Phase II) IX. To identify the predictors of response to fenretinide and fenretinide + rituximab in B-NHL. (Phase II) X. To evaluate the in vivo mechanism of action of fenretinide in B-NHL. (Phase II) OUTLINE: This is a phase I, dose-escalation study of fenretinide followed by a phase II study. PHASE I: Patients receive fenretinide orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-5. Treatment repeats weekly for at least 4 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. PHASE II: Patients receive fenretinide PO BID on days 1-5 in weeks 1-8 and rituximab intravenously (IV) once weekly in weeks 5-8. Treatment continues in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up periodically.