PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:~I. To evaluate the overall response rate (combined complete remission [CR] and partial remission [PR]) of AZD6244 hyd-sulfate anti-MEK (selumetinib) therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).~SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:~I. To evaluate the safety and tolerability of MEK inhibitor therapy. II. To determine the progression-free survival, time to treatment failure, duration of response, and overall survival with AZD6244 hyd-sulfate therapy.~III. To examine biomarkers through down-regulation of phosphorylated extracellular signal-related kinase (pERK) and several relevant target substrates (e.g., monocarboxylate transporter-1 [MCT-1], Menkes disease-associated protein [MNK], ELK, c-v-myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog [c-MYC], and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha [HIF-1a]) in peripheral blood studies.~OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.~Patients receive selumetinib orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-28. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 8 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.~Patients undergo blood sample and tumor tissue collection at baseline and at day 15 of course 1 for biomarker studies.~After completion of study therapy, patients are followed up every 3 months for up to 3 years.
This phase II clinical trial is studying how well selumetinib works in treating patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Selumetinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.