Inclusion Criteria

Concurrent Medication:

Required:

• PCP prophylaxis consisting of Bactrim, aerosolized pentamidine, or dapsone.

Recommended:

• Antiemetic therapy within 30 minutes of chemotherapy.

Allowed:

• Antiretroviral medication after two cycles of chemotherapy, provided the patient has not experienced grade 3 neutropenia while on chemotherapy or on previous antiretroviral therapy.
• Acetaminophen and/or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents.
• Bone marrow-suppressive agents, such as ganciclovir, Fansidar, Bactrim, and dapsone.
• Maintenance therapy for chronic opportunistic infection.

Concurrent Treatment:

Allowed:

• Cranial irradiation (2400 rads) for patients with CNS involvement.

Patients must have:

• Documented HIV infection or diagnosis of AIDS.
• Hodgkin's disease.
• Consent of parent or guardian and have care directly supervised by a pediatric oncologist if under 18 years of age.

Prior Medication:

Allowed:

• Maintenance therapy for opportunistic infections.

Exclusion Criteria

Co-existing Condition:

Patients with the following symptoms or conditions are excluded:

• Second primary cancer other than Kaposi's sarcoma that does not require systemic therapy, nonmelanomatous skin cancer, Bowen's disease, or carcinoma in situ of the cervix.
• Acute, active bacterial or opportunistic infection requiring ongoing therapy if such therapy has been initiated within the past 2 weeks.
• Known hypersensitivity (e.g., anaphylactoid reaction, bronchospasm) to E. coli-derived proteins.

Prior Medication:

Excluded:

• Prior chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease.
• Antiretroviral therapy within 2 weeks prior to study entry.

Prior Treatment:

Excluded:

• Prior radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease.