cci-779 in treating patients with recurrent or refractory b-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Conditions: B-cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; Extranodal Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma of Mucosa-associated Lymphoid Tissue; Malignant Neoplasm; Nodal Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Burkitt Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Mixed Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Small Cleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 1 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 2 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 3 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Recurrent Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Waldenström Macroglobulinemia

Summary: drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cci-779, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. this phase ii trial is studying how well cci-779 works in treating patients with recurrent or refractory b-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

primary objectives: i. determine the complete and partial response rate in patients with recurrent or refractory b-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with cci-779. ii. determine the toxicity and safety of this drug in these patients. iii. correlate the degree of activation of p13/akt/mtor pathway and levels of cdk inhibitors with response in patients treated with this drug. iv. correlate cci-779 induced inactivation of mtor with response in these patients. outline: patients are stratified according to disease (aggressive lymphoma \[group a\] vs follicular lymphoma \[group b\] vs small lymphocytic lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia \[group c\]). patients receive cci-779 iv over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, 15, and 22. courses repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. patients are followed every 8 weeks.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * histologically or cytologically confirmed b-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma, including the following subtypes: * aggressive b-cell lymphoma (group a) * diffuse large b-cell lymphoma * transformed lymphoma * follicular lymphoma (group b) * small lymphocytic lymphoma * chronic lymphocytic leukemia (cll) (group c) * other b-cell small lymphocytic disorders * no mantle cell lymphoma * no potentially curative treatment options because of lack of response, relapse, or ineligibility * relapsed or refractory disease * patients with refractory disease (i.e., less than a partial response to the last treatment) must have received no more than 3 prior regimens (group a) * patients with sensitive disease (i.e., at least a partial response to the last treatment) must have received no more than 4 prior regimens (group a) * patients who have failed prior autologous transplantation are eligible (group a) * no more than 5 prior regimens (groups b and c) * the salvage regimen, conditioning regimen, and any maintenance therapy are considered 1 regimen * prior rituximab or alemtuzumab is not considered prior therapy * no limitation to the amount of prior radiotherapy * no cns involvement * performance status: ecog 0-2 or karnofsky 60-100% * life expectancy more than 3 months * no symptomatic congestive heart failure * no unstable angina pectoris * no cardiac arrhythmia * no prior allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biological composition to cci-779 * no ongoing or active infection * no psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance * no other active malignancy except nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix completed therapy and considered \< 30% risk of relapse * no other concurrent uncontrolled illness * not pregnant or nursing * negative pregnancy test * fertile patients must use effective contraception * no concurrent prophylactic hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors * no concurrent pegfilgrastim * more than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin) and recovered * more than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered * no concurrent combination antiretroviral therapy for hiv-positive patients * no concurrent unconventional therapies, food, or vitamin supplements containing hypericum perforatum (st. john's wort) * no other concurrent known inducers of cyp3a4 * no other concurrent investigational agents * no other concurrent anticancer therapy * measurable disease\* * at least 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion \>= 20 mm by conventional techniques or \>= 10 mm by spiral ct scan \[note: \*only bone marrow or peripheral blood involvement required for cll and waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia \] * absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,000/mm3 * bilirubin =\< 1.5 times upper limit of normal (uln) * ast and alt =\< 2.5 times uln * creatinine =\< 1.5 times uln * fasting cholesterol =\< 350 mg/dl * fasting triglycerides =\< 400 mg/dl * platelet count \>= 50, 000/mm3 (\> 20,000/mm3 for patients with thrombocytopenia due to bone marrow involvement)