DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed solid tumor or lymphoid (e.g., lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia) malignancies

  • Refractory to standard therapy or no acceptable standard treatment options exists

    • Patients with lymphoid malignancies must have disease progression after standard therapy AND have either refused stem cell transplantation (SCT) or SCT is not indicated

• No gliomas, symptomatic CNS metastases, or carcinomatous meningitis

  • Patients with a history of CNS metastases are eligible, at the discretion of the principal investigator, provided they have received treatment and their CNS metastatic disease status has remained stable for ≥ 3 months without requiring steroids or anti-seizure medications

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Karnofsky performance status 60-100%
• Life expectancy > 3 months
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm³
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• Total bilirubin < 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN
• Creatinine < 1.5 times ULN OR creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after completion of study treatment
• No concurrent uncontrolled illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situation that would preclude compliance with study requirements
• No history of seizures
• No gastrointestinal condition that may predispose patient to drug intolerability or poor drug absorption (e.g., inability to take oral medication or a requirement for IV alimentation, prior surgical procedures affecting absorption, malabsorption syndrome, or active peptic ulcer disease)
• No ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, or partial or complete small bowel obstruction

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• Recovered from prior therapy
• At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (> 6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C)
• At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• At least 2 weeks since prior investigational agents administered as part of a phase 0 study
• Prior ABT-888 as part of a single- or limited-dosing study (e.g., phase 0 study) allowed
• Prior cyclophosphamide allowed
• No concurrent protease inhibitors for HIV-positive patients
• No other concurrent chemotherapy
• No other concurrent investigational or commercial anticancer agents or therapies