GM-CSF and Rituximab After Autologous Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologic diagnosis of grade 1, 2, 3, or transformed follicular lymphoma
* Achieved a complete or partial response to last salvage therapy

  * Completed salvage therapy within the past 12 weeks
  * No disease progression since last salvage therapy
* One of the following disease statuses must have been present prior to receiving salvage therapy

  * Refractory to last anti-lymphoma therapy
  * Last remission duration less than 1½ years if salvage therapy is 3rd regimen
  * Last remission duration less than 3 years if salvage therapy is 2nd regimen
* Minimum of 2 x 10\^6 CD34+ cells/kg cryopreserved and available for hematopoietic stem cell support
* No leptomeningeal disease or brain parenchyma involvement

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* Cardiac ejection fraction \> 50%

  * If over 60 years of age, no evidence of cardiac ischemia by treadmill stress test (stress echo or sesta-MIBI)
* Adjusted diffusing capacity ≥ 50% of the predicted value on pulmonary function testing
* Creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL OR creatinine clearance \> 50 mL/min
* ANC \> 1,000/μL
* Platelet count \> 50,000/μL
* Total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL (≤ 3.0 mg/dL if Gilbert's disease is suspected)
* Not pregnant or breast-feeding
* Fertile patients must use an acceptable form of birth control
* HIV I or II negative
* No acute or chronic hepatitis B
* No active hepatitis C
* No medical illness (unrelated to non-Hodgkin lymphoma), including malignancies that, in the opinion of the attending physician and/or principal investigator, would preclude study treatment
* No other malignancy within the past 5 years except curatively treated cutaneous basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma or carcinoma in situ of the cervix

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* No more than 3 prior anti-lymphoma regimens, inclusive of the salvage therapy

  * Biologic agents (e.g., monoclonal antibodies and vaccines) administered as part of a planned treatment regimen will not be considered distinct regimens
  * Chemotherapy administered primarily for the purpose of stem cell mobilization (e.g., cyclophosphamide at 2-4 g/m²) will not be considered an anti-lymphoma regimen
* No prior autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation