RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab, can locate cancer cells and either kill them or deliver cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as carmustine, cytarabine, etoposide, and melphalan, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining rituximab and combination chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining rituximab with combination chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
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evaluation of the relationship between levels of sCD20 in the blood of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma pre and post rituximab/BEAM/autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation (PBPCT) as they relate to clinical outcomes.
Timeframe: pre and post transplant