OUTLINE: Patients are stratified into newly diagnosed (group A) and previously treated (group B) patients. Patients receive doxorubicin HCl liposome IV over 2.5 hours, followed by vincristine by bolus IV over 5 minutes on day 1. Dexamethasone is administered orally or by IV on days 1-4. Treatment is repeated every 4 weeks for a minimum of 6 courses, and 2 courses after maximum response unless unacceptable toxic effects or disease progression occur. Patients are followed until death.