High grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is an increasingly common complication of HIV-l-induced immunosuppression. Current treatment protocols for patients with AIDS lymphoma induce complete remission in approximately 50% of patients with many of these ultimately experiencing recurrent lymphoma. Thus, a higher percentage of patients will have either refractory or relapsed disease. Treatment options for these individuals are limited by poor tolerance of dose intensive cytotoxic chemotherapies. Novel therapeutics with different mechanisms of action and potentially more favorable toxicity profiles are indicated. One such approach uses monoclonal antibodies linked to cytotoxins. This proposal seeks to define the safety and gain preliminary tumor response data about the immunoconjugate anti-B4-blocked ricin. This drug will be used as a single agent continuously infused for 28 days at one of 5 dose levels in patients with refractory or relapsed AIDS lymphoma. This is an ongoing two center trial. This proposal seeks funding for one of the two clinical trial sites.
