DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed cutaneous T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (CTCL)

• Relapsed or refractory disease, meeting 1 of the following criteria:

  • Progression of disease following 2 prior chemotherapies
  • Failure to respond to the second prior chemotherapy
• Measurable disease

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status 0-2
• Life expectancy > 3 months
• Serum creatinine < 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Serum AST/ALT < 2.5 times ULN
• Total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL (< 3.0 mg/dL in patients with Gilbert syndrome)
• WBC count ≥ 3,000/mm³
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• Serum albumin > 2.5 g/dL
• LVEF ≥ 45% by 2-D ECHO or MUGA scan
• Human antimurine antibody < 1 μg/mL
• Patients with a history of electrocardiogram abnormalities, symptoms of cardiac ischemia, or arrhythmias must have a normal cardiac stress test (i.e., stress thallium, stress MUGA, dobutamine echocardiogram, or other stress test)
• Must be willing to undergo venipuncture and central line placement
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• No HBV surface antigen, HCV, or HIV antibody positivity
• No autoimmune disease or immunodeficiency (i.e., HIV)

• No history of uncontrolled concurrent illness including, but not limited to, any of the following:

  • Ongoing or active infection
  • Ongoing or active cardiac disease (i.e., congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, or cardiac arrhythmia)
  • Psychiatric illness and/or social situation that would preclude study compliance
• No other malignancies except treated basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 3 weeks since prior systemic therapy for CTCL
• More than 6 months since prior chronic steroid therapy or chronic anti-coagulation therapy
• No prior therapy with anti-CD25 immunotoxin IMTOX25 and/or Ontak
• No other concurrent cancer chemotherapy, experimental therapy, investigational agent, or immunomodulating agent (including steroids)