DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of 1 of the following hematologic malignancies:

  • Acute myeloid leukemia or acute lymphoblastic leukemia

    • Not a candidate for potentially curative therapy
    • WBC ≤ 10,000/mm^3 OR WBC ≤ 40,000/mm^3 that is stable for 5 days (hydroxyurea allowed)
    • No acute promyelocytic leukemia

  • Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), including 1 of the following subtypes:

    • Small lymphocytic lymphoma
    • Marginal zone lymphoma
    • Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma
    • Follicular lymphoma
    • Mantle cell lymphoma
    • Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
    • Anaplastic large cell lymphoma
    • Peripheral T-cell lymphoma
    • Extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma (nasal and nasal type)
    • Enteropathy-type T-cell lymphoma
    • Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma
    • Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma
    • Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)

• Patients with NHL or CLL must meet the following criteria:

  • Ineligible for, or refused potentially curative stem cell transplantation
  • Transformed lymphoma/Richter's transformation, defined as the transformation of low-grade lymphoma, including follicular lymphoma, CLL, or small lymphocytic lymphoma to high-grade lymphoma (i.e., diffuse large cell lymphoma) allowed at time of transformation
  • Evidence of ≥ 50% bone marrow involvement at the time of enrollment OR tumor tissue accessible for biopsy (for patients enrolled after the maximum tolerated dose [MTD] is determined)
  • Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,000/mm^3
  • Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
• Relapsed or refractory disease
• Willing to undergo serial bone marrow biopsy (for patients enrolled after the MTD is determined)
• No untreated or active CNS leukemia or lymphoma

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

• At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic

• See Disease Characteristics

Hepatic

• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
• AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal

Renal

• Creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL

Cardiovascular

• No uncontrolled cardiac disease
• No New York Heart Association class III-IV symptomatic congestive heart failure
• No unstable angina pectoris
• No serious ventricular arrhythmia (i.e., ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation > 3 beats in a row) within the past 6 months
• No other uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia or requiring antiarrhythmic drugs
• No myocardial infarction within the past year
• No active ischemic heart disease within the past year
• No congenital long QT syndrome
• No left bundle branch block
• QTc ≥ 450 msec (for men) or 470 (for women) on ECG/EKG
• No history of LVEF < 50% by MUGA or echocardiogram
• Resting ejection fraction ≥ 50% by MUGA or echocardiogram
• No prior history of cardiac toxicity after receiving anthracycline therapy (e.g., doxorubicin hydrochloride, daunorubicin hydrochloride, or mitoxantrone hydrochloride)

Pulmonary

• No uncontrolled pulmonary disease
• No symptomatic pulmonary disease requiring oxygen or medications
• DLCO (i.e., oxygen diffusion capacity) ≥ 80% on pulmonary function testing
• Resting and exercise oxygen saturation ≥ 90% by pulse oximetry

• No ongoing pulmonary symptoms ≥ grade 2 including any of the following:

  • Dyspnea on or off exertion
  • Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea
  • Significant pulmonary disease including chronic obstructive or restrictive pulmonary disease
  • No prior history of pulmonary toxicity after bleomycin or carmustine
• No Medicare requirement for home oxygen (e.g., Resting O_2 saturation ≥ 90% or desaturation to ≥ 90% with exertion)

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• HIV negative
• No preexisting sensory or motor peripheral neuropathy ≥ grade 2
• No history of allergic reaction to eggs
• No ongoing or active infection
• No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance
• No other uncontrolled illness

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• Prior stem cell transplantation for relapsed or refractory disease allowed
• At least 2 weeks since prior immunotherapy and recovered

Chemotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• At least 2 weeks since prior chemotherapy (excluding hydroxyurea) and recovered
• No other concurrent chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

• No concurrent routine corticosteroids except for treatment of other medical problems (e.g., pulmonary, rheumatologic, or adrenal disorders)

Radiotherapy

• At least 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
• No prior radiotherapy that potentially included the heart in the field (e.g., mantle)
• No prior history of chest radiation
• No concurrent palliative radiotherapy

Surgery

• Not specified

Other

• At least 2 weeks since prior investigational therapy
• Prior bortezomib allowed
• No other concurrent commercial or investigational agents or therapies for the malignancy