Etoposide, Prednisone, Vincristine Sulfate, Cyclophosphamide, and Doxorubicin Hydrochloride With Asparaginase in Treating Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or Lymphoblastic Lymphoma

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients must have a confirmed diagnosis of either B- or T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma that is either:
• •* Arm A: Initially diagnosed at age 40 or later, OR
• •* Arm B: Relapsed after or failed to respond to \>= 1 previous chemotherapy regimen
• •The regimen under study must constitute a reasonable therapeutic option
• •Presence of \>= 5% abnormal blasts in the bone marrow
• •Patients with prior allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) must be at least 90 days post-HCT and must be on =\< 20 mg of prednisone (or equivalent dose of an alternative corticosteroid) for treatment/prevention of graft-vs-host disease
• •Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN; unless attributable to Gilbert's disease or other causes of inherited indirect hyperbilirubinemia, at which point total bilirubin must be =\< 2.5 x ULN)
• •Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 3.0 x institutional ULN
• •Note: Patients with liver test abnormalities attributable to hepatic involvement by ALL will be permitted if the total bilirubin is =\< 3.0 x ULN and ALT/AST are =\< 5.0 x ULN
• •Creatinine =\< 1.5 mg/dL; however, patients with a creatinine \> 1.5 mg/dL but with a calculated creatinine clearance of \> 60 ml/min, as measured by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation, will be eligible
• •Measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) should be performed in patients with prior anthracycline exposure or known history of arrhythmia or structural heart disease; in these cases, LVEF must be \>= 40%
• •As patients with ALL frequently have cytopenias, no hematologic parameters will be required for enrollment or to receive the first cycle of treatment; however, adequate recovery of blood counts will be required to receive subsequent cycles
• •Per good clinical practice, any toxicity related to prior therapies that, in the opinion of the investigator, would potentially be worsened with DA-EPOCH-A +/- imatinib (imatinib mesylate) +/- rituximab, should be resolved to grade 1 or less
• •Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0 to 2
• •Women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test and must agree to the use of effective contraception while on treatment; men must also agree to the use of effective contraception while on treatment
• •Ability to give informed consent and comply with the protocol
• •Anticipated survival of at least 3 months