Patient description: A 17 year old boy complains of vomiting, non-bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, chills and loss of appetite for the past 3 days. He ate a salad at a restaurant prior to his diarrhea onset. Physical exam was remarkable for pallor, jaundice, and diffuse abdominal tenderness. Lab results were as follows: Hemoglobin: 9.7 g/dL Platelet: 110,000 /cu.mm Creatinine: 3.6 mg/dL blood urea nitrogen (BUN): 73 mg/dL direct bilirubin: 2.4 mg/dL lactate dehydrogenase (LDH): 881 IU/L (normal: 110-265 IU/L) Peripheral blood smear showed a moderate number of schistocytes and helmet cells. Shiga-like toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) stx1/stx2 were found in stools. He has no other underlying disease and he is not on any medications.

Clinical trial eligibility criteria: eligible ages (years): 1.0-21.0,  Accelerated Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Acute Leukemias of Ambiguous Lineage Acute Myeloid Leukemia/Transient Myeloproliferative Disorder Acute Undifferentiated Leukemia Aggressive NK-cell Leukemia Atypical Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, BCR-ABL1 Negative Blastic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm Childhood Burkitt Lymphoma Childhood Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Childhood Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis Childhood Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma Childhood Nasal Type Extranodal NK/T-cell Lymphoma Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia Chronic Neutrophilic Leukemia Chronic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Intraocular Lymphoma Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia Mast Cell Leukemia Myeloid/NK-cell Acute Leukemia Noncutaneous Extranodal Lymphoma Post-transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder Primary Central Nervous System Hodgkin Lymphoma Primary Central Nervous System Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Progressive Hairy Cell Leukemia, Initial Treatment Prolymphocytic Leukemia Recurrent Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Recurrent Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Recurrent Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma Recurrent Grade 1 Follicular Lymphoma Recurrent Grade 2 Follicular Lymphoma Recurrent Grade 3 Follicular Lymphoma Recurrent Mantle Cell Lymphoma Recurrent Marginal Zone Lymphoma Recurrent Mycosis Fungoides/Sezary Syndrome Recurrent Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Refractory Hairy Cell Leukemia Relapsing Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia Small Intestine Lymphoma Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific Waldenström Macroglobulinemia Patients must have a body surface area > 0.5 m^2 when enrolling on dose levels 0 or 1 of the every other day schedule; no body surface area (BSA) restrictions apply to patients enrolling on higher dose levels; no BSA restrictions apply to patients enrolling on any dose level of the weekly schedule Diagnosis Part A (both schedules): Patients must have a diagnosis of recurrent or refractory solid tumors, including central nervous system (CNS) tumors or lymphoma; patients must have had histologic verification of malignancy at original diagnosis or relapse except in patients with intrinsic brain stem tumors, optic pathway gliomas, or patients with pineal tumors and elevations of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or serum tumor markers including alpha-fetoprotein or beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) Part B (both schedules): Patients must have a diagnosis of recurrent or refractory leukemia Disease status Solid tumors: Patients must have either measurable or evaluable disease Leukemia: Patients must have >= 5% blasts in the bone marrow; active extramedullary disease (except for leptomeningeal disease) may also be present Patient's current disease state must be one for which there is no known curative therapy or therapy proven to prolong survival with an acceptable quality of life Karnofsky >= 50% for patients > 16 years of age and Lansky >= 50 for patients =< 16 years of age; note: neurologic deficits in patients with CNS tumors must have been relatively stable for a minimum of 1 week prior to study enrollment; patients who are unable to walk because of paralysis, but who are up in a wheelchair, will be considered ambulatory for the purpose of assessing the performance score Patients must have fully recovered from the acute toxic effects of all prior anti-cancer chemotherapy  Pregnant or breast-feeding women will not be entered on this study; pregnancy tests must be obtained in girls who are post-menarchal; males or females of reproductive potential may not participate unless they have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method Patients receiving corticosteroids who have not been on a stable or decreasing dose of corticosteroid for the prior 7 days are not eligible Patients who are currently receiving another investigational drug are not eligible Patients who are currently receiving other anticancer agents are not eligible [except leukemia patients receiving hydroxyurea, which may be continued until 24 hours prior to start of protocol therapy]; patients with leukemia may receive intrathecal therapy Patients must not be receiving enzyme-inducing anticonvulsants Patients receiving insulin or growth hormone therapy are not eligible Patients on medications that may cause corrected QT (QTc) interval prolongation are not eligible Patients who are receiving cyclosporine, tacrolimus or other agents to prevent either graft-versus-host disease post bone marrow transplant or organ rejection post transplant are not eligible for this trial Patients must be able to swallow whole tablets; nasogastric or G tube administration is not allowed Patients who have an uncontrolled infection are not eligible