Everolimus in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerability of everolimus in patients with relapsed or therapy-resistant mantle cell lymphoma. Secondary * Evaluation of the efficacy of everolimus to induce molecular remission in patients treated with this regimen. * Investigation of immunoglobulin heavy chain variable gene somatic hypermutations (Ig-V\_H) in classical mantle cell lymphoma as compared to blastoid mantle cell lymphoma, in particular in regard to their frequency, mutation distribution pattern (antigen selected vs. at random), and the individually involved Ig-V\_H families. * Evaluation of a putative impact of Ig-V\_H on clinical outcome. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive oral everolimus once daily on days 1-28. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Bone marrow and peripheral blood samples are collected periodically and analyzed for molecular response by PCR. Molecular studies are also performed on DNA level formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year, every 6 months for 1 year, and then annually for 3 years.