Rituximab and GM-CSF in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed Follicular B-Cell Lymphoma

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Determine the safety and efficacy of rituximab and sargramostim (GM-CSF), in terms of complete response at 12 weeks, in patients with newly diagnosed follicular B-cell lymphoma. Secondary * Determine the overall response rate in patients treated with this regimen. * Determine the progression-free survival at 3 years in patients treated with this regimen. * Determine the adverse event profile of this regimen in these patients. * Determine the survival of patients treated with this regimen. * Determine the effect of Fc gamma receptor polymorphism on response rate and time to progression in patients treated with this regimen. OUTLINE: This is an open-label, multicenter study. Patients receive rituximab IV on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 and sargramostim (GM-CSF) subcutaneously on days 1, 3, and 5. Treatment with GM-CSF repeats weekly for up to 8 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients undergo blood collection at baseline for correlative laboratory studies of Fc-gamma receptor RIIIa 158 polymorphism. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years and then every 6 months for 1 year.