Alisertib and Romidepsin in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory B-Cell or T-Cell Lymphomas

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To assess the safety profile of alisertib (MLN8237) plus romidepsin. II. To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), if reached, of MLN8237 administered in combination with romidepsin. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate objective response rate (ORR) and complete response (CR) of the combined regimen. II. To assess whether higher levels of expression of aurora kinase A correlate with outcomes. III. To determine if this combination results in downregulation of targets of v-myc myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (avian) (C-Myc) in C-Myc positive patients, induces mitotic catastrophe, changes immune system or other host responses, or upregulates markers for apoptosis. OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study. Patients receive alisertib orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-7 (dose levels 1-4) or days 1-3, 8-10, and 15-17 (dose levels 5-8). Patients also receive romidepsin intravenously (IV) over 4 hours on days 1 and 8 (dose levels 1-4) or 2, 9, and 16 (dose levels 5-8). Treatment repeats every 21 days (dose levels 1-4) or 28 days (dose levels 5-8) for up to 8 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for 4 weeks.