Glutamic Acid in Reducing Nerve Damage Caused by Vincristine in Young Patients With Cancer

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Compare the effect of glutamic acid vs placebo, in terms of decreasing neurotoxicity as measured by a scored neurologic examination, in young patients undergoing vincristine-containing treatment for Wilms' tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Secondary * Compare the frequency and types of neurotoxicity observed in patients treated with glutamic acid versus placebo. * Determine if a greater proportion of patients receiving glutamic acid are able to receive 100% of their scheduled doses of vincristine versus those not treated with glutamic acid. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to disease and duration of planned vincristine-containing treatment (Wilms' tumor or rhabdomyosarcoma with treatment planned for ≥ 9 consecutive weeks \[stratum 1\] vs acute lymphoblastic leukemia or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with treatment planned for ≥ 4 consecutive weeks \[stratum 2\]). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive oral glutamic acid 3 times daily beginning prior to the first dose of vincristine and continuing through week 5 (stratum 2) for a total of 4 doses of vincristine or week 10 (stratum 1) for a total of 9 doses of vincristine. * Arm II: Patients receive oral placebo 3 times daily beginning prior to the first dose of vincristine and continuing through week 5 (stratum 2) for a total of 4 doses of vincristine or week 10 (stratum 1) for a total of 9 doses of vincristine. All patients undergo neurologic examination at baseline and at 5 weeks. Patients in stratum 1 also undergo additional neurologic examination at week 10. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 250 patients will be accrued for this study.