curcumin and cholecalciferol in treating patients with previously untreated stage 0-ii chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma

Conditions: Contiguous Stage II Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Noncontiguous Stage II Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Stage 0 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; Stage I Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; Stage I Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Stage II Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Summary: this phase ii trial studies the efficacy (activity), and tolerability of curcumin and cholecalciferol combination in treating patients with previously untreated stage 0-ii chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. curcumin and cholecalciferol may prevent or slow the growth of cancer cells.

primary objectives: i. to determine the overall response rate (orr) based on national cancer institute-working group (nci-wg) criteria in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (cll) or the cheson criteria in small lymphocytic lymphoma (sll). secondary objectives: i. to determine the time to first cytotoxic treatment (tfct), progression free survival (pfs), and overall survival (os) using this regimen. outline: patients receive curcumin orally (po) daily on days 1-28 and cholecalciferol po daily on days 8-28 of course 1 and days 1-28 of subsequent courses. treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. patients achieving partial response or better may receive treatment for a total of 2 years. after completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for 30 days and then every 3-6 months for 2 years.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * have a diagnosis of cll based on peripheral blood flow cytometry and/or bone marrow aspiration and biopsy or diagnosis of sll based on lymph node or bone marrow biopsy; patients with sll need to have measurable disease * performance status (eastern cooperative oncology group \[ecog\]) 0-2 * patients must have not received any prior treatment for cll or sll * patients must be stage 0-ii based on rai staging system; must have no indication for treatment for sll per nci-wg criteria * absolute neutrophil count (anc) \>= 1,500/mm\^3 * platelet count \>= 100,000/mm\^3 * hemoglobin \>= 10 g/dl * serum creatinine =\ = 60ml/min (cockcroft-gault method) * aspartate aminotransferase (ast) and alanine aminotransferase (alt) =\< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (uln) * bilirubin \< 2.0 x uln, unless subject has gilbert's disease * calcium \< 10.1 mg/dl (corrected to serum albumin) * females will be either postmenopausal for at least 1 year or surgically sterile for at least 3 months or females of child-bearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test at screening and agree to take appropriate precautions to avoid pregnancy (double barrier method of birth control or abstinence) from screening through 3 months after the last dose of treatment * able to comprehend and willing to sign an informed consent form (icf) * subjects must be off any steroids 7 days prior to the initiation of treatment * subjects must be off any curcumin, tumeric, or vitamin d supplements for 14 days prior to the initiation of treatment * subjects must be able to take oral medications exclusion criteria: * presence of malignancy (other than the one treated in this study) which required systemic treatment within the past 3 years * any indication to start treatment for cll based on nci-wg criteria * prior therapy for cll/sll * subjects who are pregnant or breast-feeding; breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with curcumin * concurrent medical condition which may increase the risk of toxicity, including: * hypercalcemia of any cause * untreated hyperparathyroidism * paget's disease of bone * uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situation that would limit compliance with study requirements as judged by treating physician; subjects receiving antibiotics that are under control may be included in the study * inability to take oral medications * patients receiving other investigational agent * history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to curcumin or vitamin d or other agents used in this study * patients on therapeutic anticoagulation, with heparin (or low-molecular weight heparin), warfarin, or a direct thrombin inhibitor as the safety of concurrent administration of curcumin has not been established * human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy are ineligible