Bortezomib and Rituximab in Treating Patients With Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of 1 of the following subtypes:
• Follicular (grade 1, 2, or 3)
• Marginal zone (extranodal, nodal, or splenic)
• CD20-positive disease
• Relapsed or progressive disease after prior anti-neoplastic therapy, as indicated by 1 of the following:
• New lesions
• Objective evidence of progression of existing lesions
• Complete response ≥ 6 months in duration after prior rituximab therapy* NOTE: *For patients who were previously treated with a regimen that included rituximab
• At least 1 measurable lymph node mass > 1.5 cm in 2 perpendicular dimensions that has not been irradiated OR that has progressed since prior radiotherapy
• No active CNS lymphoma

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• Karnofsky 50-100% OR
• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

• Not specified

Hematopoietic

• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,000/mm^3
• Platelet count ≥ 50,000/mm^3

Hepatic

• AST and ALT ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Bilirubin ≤ 2 times ULN

Renal

• Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL OR
• Creatinine clearance ≥ 30 mL/min

Immunologic

• No known anaphylaxis or immunoglobulin E-mediated hypersensitivity to murine proteins or to any component of rituximab, including polysorbate 80 and sodium citrate dihydrate
• No active systemic infection requiring treatment
• No history of allergic reaction attributable to compounds containing boron or mannitol

Other

• No peripheral neuropathy or neuropathic pain ≥ grade 2
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except completely resected basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer or an in situ malignancy
• Previously diagnosed prostate cancer allowed provided the following criteria are met:
• T1-2a, N0, M0 disease AND Gleason score ≤ 7 AND prostate specific antigen (PSA) ≤ 10 ng/mL before initial therapy
• Treated with definitive curative therapy (i.e., prostatectomy or radiotherapy) within the past 2 years
• No clinical evidence of prostate cancer AND undetectable PSA (for prostatectomy patients) or PSA < 1 ng/mL (for patients who did not undergo prostatectomy)
• No serious medical or psychiatric illness that would preclude study participation
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 10 weeks since prior radioimmunoconjugates or toxin immunoconjugates (e.g., ibritumomab tiuxetan or iodine I 131 tositumomab)
• More than 4 weeks since prior rituximab, alemtuzumab, or other unconjugated therapeutic antibody
• No concurrent prophylactic bone marrow growth factors (e.g., filgrastim [G-CSF], sargramostim [GM-CSF], or epoetin alfa) during course 1 of study therapy

Chemotherapy

• More than 6 weeks since prior nitrosoureas
• No concurrent cisplatin

Endocrine therapy

• No concurrent corticosteroids (e.g., dexamethasone) except prednisone ≤ 15 mg/day or equivalent for adrenal insufficiency

Radiotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• See Biologic therapy
• More than 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No concurrent radiotherapy

Surgery

• More than 2 weeks since prior major surgery

Other

• Recovered from all prior therapy
• No prior bortezomib
• More than 3 weeks since prior antineoplastic therapy
• More than 3 weeks since prior experimental therapy
• No other concurrent antineoplastic therapy
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• Concurrent participation in a non-treatment study allowed provided it does not interfere with participation in this study