Phase II Study of High-Dose Cyclophosphamide in Patients With Severe Autoimmune Hematologic Disease

PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA: --Disease Characteristics-- * Diagnosis of severe autoimmune hematologic disease Autoimmune hemolytic anemia OR Immune thrombocytopenia * Failure of at least 2 standard treatment approaches (e.g., prednisone therapy, splenectomy, intravenous immunoglobulin, or other immunosuppressants) * Inability to taper prednisone dose to less than 10 mg/day OR Autoimmune neutropenia including the following: Felty's syndrome OR Disorders of large granular lymphocytes with recurrent infections or absolute neutrophil count less than 200/mm3 --Prior/Concurrent Therapy-- * See Disease Characteristics --Patient Characteristics-- * Age: Not specified * Performance status: Not specified * Hematopoietic: See Disease Characteristics * Hepatic: Not specified * Renal: Creatinine no greater than 2.5 mg/dL * Cardiovascular: Ejection fraction at least 40% * Pulmonary: FVC, FEV1, or DLCO at least 50% predicted Other: * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile patients must use effective contraception * Not preterminal or moribund