Clinical Research Directory

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Diagnosis of one of the following: * Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), meeting one of the following criteria: * In first relapse or beyond * High-risk ALL, defined by any of the following: * Hypoploidy (≤ 44 chromosomes) * Pseudodiploidy with translocations or molecular evidence of t(9;22), 11q23, or t(8;14), excluding B-cell ALL * Elevated WBC at presentation (WBC \> 20,000/mm³ \[for patients \> 18 years of age\]; WBC \> 200,000/mm³ \[for patients 12-18 years of age\]) * Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), meeting one of the following criteria: * In first complete remission * Failed to achieve remission * In first relapse or beyond * Secondary AML (\> 30% blasts in marrow aspirate) * Should receive induction chemotherapy to obtain remission, if possible, before transplant * Chronic myelogenous leukemia, meeting one of the following criteria: * In first or second chronic phase or accelerated phase * In blast crisis, defined as \> 30% promyelocytes plus blasts in the bone marrow * Myelodysplastic syndromes, including any of the following: * Refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB) * Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia * RAEB in transformation * Refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, or multiple myeloma * Received and failed front-line therapy, high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation, or salvage therapy * Myeloproliferative disorders/myelofibrosis may be allowed on a case by case basis * Severe aplastic anemia, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or any other hematologic disorder requiring transplantation * Patients \> 55 years of age with hematologic diseases treatable by allogeneic stem cell transplantation who are not eligible for IRB 99190 are eligible * No uncontrolled CNS involvement of disease * No matched (6/6) related donor available * HLA-identical unrelated donor available * HLA-phenotypically identical for HLA-A and HLA-B alleles and identical for DRB1 alleles by DNA typing for both class I and class II antigens * Allele mismatch for HLA class I (i.e., B 2701 vs B 2702) allowed if no alternative donors * Allele mismatch for class II (i.e., DRB1 0401 vs 0402) or minor mismatch for class I cross reactive group (CREG) (i.e., A 2 vs A 28) allowed in patients ≤ 35 years of age requiring urgent transplant PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Karnofsky performance status 50-100% * Life expectancy \> 8 weeks * LVEF ≥ 45% at rest * AST ≤ 2 times normal (unless liver function abnormality is due to underlying disease) * Total bilirubin \< 1.5 times normal (unless liver function abnormality is due to underlying disease) * Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times normal OR creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min * DLCO ≥ 40% of predicted (corrected for hemoglobin) * No coexisting medical problem that would significantly increase the risk of the transplant procedure * HIV negative * Not pregnant PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics