Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide, and Total-Body Irradiation Followed by Cyclosporine and Mycophenolate Mofetil in Treating Patients Who Are Undergoing a Donor Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant for Hematologic Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Diagnosis of 1 of the following hematologic malignancies:

  * Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with or without history of myelodysplastic syndromes, meeting 1 of the following criteria:

    * In first complete remission (CR-1) with unfavorable cytogenetics and/or achieved CR-1 after ≥ 1 course of induction therapy
    * Secondary or treatment-related AML
    * In second or further complete remission
    * Relapsed with ≤ 20% blasts in the bone marrow AND no circulating blasts
  * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), meeting 1 of the following criteria:

    * In CR-1 with unfavorable cytogenetics or elevated WBC at presentation OR failed to achieve CR-1 after ≥ 4 weeks of induction therapy
    * In second or further complete remission
    * Relapsed with ≤ 20% blasts in the bone marrow AND no circulating blasts
  * Other acute leukemic variants allowed at the discretion of the principal investigator
  * Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), meeting 1 of the following criteria:

    * In first chronic phase AND refractory to or unable to tolerate imatinib mesylate
    * In second or further chronic phase
    * In first or second accelerated phase
  * Myelodysplastic syndromes with intermediate 2- or high-risk International Prognosis Scoring System (IPSS) score, including any of the following:

    * Refractory anemia
    * Refractory anemia with excess blasts
    * Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
  * Myeloproliferative disorders with poor prognosis, including any of the following:

    * Myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia

      * No ≥ grade 3 myelofibrosis
    * Atypical CML
    * Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia
  * Other clonal hemopathies with an accepted poor prognosis
  * Multiple myeloma with chromosome 13 abnormalities and/or progression after prior autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT)
  * Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, meeting 1 of the following criteria:

    * Primary refractory OR relapsed and refractory disease (less than partial remission)
    * Relapsed twice on or after prior chemotherapy
  * Lymphoma, meeting both of the following criteria:

    * Hodgkin's or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in \> CR-1 OR failed primary induction
    * Chemosensitive disease, defined as \> 50% reduction in mass size after the most recent chemotherapy
* Must meet ≥ 1 of the following criteria:

  * Over 45 years of age
  * Has undergone prior autologous or allogeneic BMT
  * Charlson\^ comorbidity score ≥ 2
* Must have a high degree of tumor control (salvage therapy allowed)
* At high risk for treatment-related mortality with a myeloablative conditioning regimen
* No massive splenomegaly

  * Patients may become eligible after splenectomy or radiotherapy to the spleen
* No 5/6 or 6/6 HLA-matched related donor available
* No well-matched (i.e., ≥ 9/10 HLA match by high-resolution typing) unrelated donor available

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Performance status

* Not specified

Life expectancy

* Not specified

Hematopoietic

* See Disease Characteristics

Hepatic

* Bilirubin ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* Transaminases ≤ 4 times ULN (unless due to underlying disease)

Renal

* Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min

Cardiovascular

* Ejection fraction ≥ 30%

Pulmonary

* DCLO ≥ 35%

Other

* Negative pregnancy test
* No uncontrolled viral, bacterial, or fungal infection
* HIV negative

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

* See Disease Characteristics

Chemotherapy

* See Disease Characteristics

Radiotherapy

* See Disease Characteristics

Other

* At least 3 months since prior immunosuppressive therapy
* At least 10 days since prior salvage therapy for patients not in at least morphologic or radiologic complete remission