Inclusion Criteria

Patients must have:

• Positive HIV antibody by ELISA with Western blot confirmation, or positive HIV culture or serum p24 antigen capture assay, or prior diagnosis of AIDS by the CDC surveillance criteria.
• Pathological diagnosis of large cell (cleaved or non-cleaved), immunoblastic, or small non-cleaved lymphoma, stage I, II, III, or IV.
• If displaying systemic ("B") symptoms, evaluation for concurrent opportunistic infections as follows:
• Buffy coat for Mycobacterium intracellulare-avium (MAI) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) cultures; serum cryptococcal antigen; some measure of pulmonary function to exclude Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia including chest x-ray and either gallium scan, blood gases, or DLCO; stool culture and special stains for Salmonella, Isospora belli, cryptosporidium, CMV, and MAI in patients with diarrhea; computerized tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain, or lumbar puncture for India ink, acid-fast bacilli smear, cryptococcal antigen, or fungal/mycobacterial culture.

Bone marrow involvement is permitted if the patient meets the hematologic criteria above.

Patients who have central nervous system (CNS) involvement at diagnosis or who are diagnosed during treatment will receive cranial radiotherapy:

- The total dose of 2400 rads will be delivered at a rate of 200 rads/day to the mid plane employing parallel opposing, lateral whole brain fields. The lower border of the field will encompass C2 to cover the meninges.

• Patients will be treated 5 days/week, Monday through Friday, until the total prescribed dose has been completed.
• Radiation will begin as soon as possible after documentation of lymphomatous disease in the CNS. If a second course of treatment is required, the 2400 rads is well within whole brain tolerance for normal tissues (4500-5000 rads).

Exclusion Criteria

Co-existing Condition:

Patients with the following are excluded:

• Acute bacterial or opportunistic infection.
• Second primary cancer other than Kaposi's sarcoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, or carcinoma in-situ of the cervix.
• Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma.

Concurrent Medication:

Excluded:

• Patients receiving prophylactic or maintenance therapy for bacterial or opportunistic infections, with the exception of those receiving Fansidar (sulfadoxine / pyrimethamine) for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia prophylaxis.
• Antiretroviral agents.
• Immunomodulators.

Patients with the following are excluded:

• Acute bacterial or opportunistic infection.
• Second primary cancer other than Kaposi's sarcoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, or carcinoma in-situ of the cervix.
• Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma.

Prior Medication:

Excluded:

• Prior therapy for lymphoma.
• Excluded within 1 week of study entry:
• Antiretroviral agents and immunomodulators.

Prior Treatment:

Excluded:

• Prior therapy for lymphoma.