OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Autologous bone marrow (ABM) is harvested and two-thirds of the ABM is treated in vitro with etoposide (VP-16). ABM may have been stored earlier in the course of the disease for patients who are at high risk of relapse or who were previously treated with agents causing bone marrow or stem cell damage (e.g., nitrosoureas, pelvic irradiation). Patients with prior bone marrow involvement and subsequent bone marrow remission must have received 1 or 2 additional courses of the same chemotherapy before undergoing harvest of ABM. Patients for whom PBSC rescue alone is planned also undergo ABM harvest in case back-up ABM rescue is needed. Patients then receive sargramostim (GM-CSF) or filgrastim (G-CSF) subcutaneously beginning 5 days before harvest of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) and continuing until completion of harvest. Patients without extensive prior radiotherapy undergo radiotherapy to areas of measurable active disease plus a 2 cm margin on days -21 to -17 and -14 to -8. Patients without a contraindication to cisplatin (e.g., hearing impairment, peripheral neuropathy) receive cisplatin IV over 3 hours on days -7 to -3 and carmustine IV over 2 hours and VP-16 IV over 4 hours on days -6 to -4. Patients with a contraindication to cisplatin receive cyclophosphamide IV every 12 hours, VP-16 IV over 1 hour every 12 hours, and carmustine IV over 1 hour on days -7 to -4. ABM and/or PBSC are reinfused on day 0. The first 6 ABM rescue patients receive untreated ABM and subsequent patients receive ABM treated in vitro with VP-16. Patients with bone marrow biopsy showing no evidence of regeneration (marrow cellularity less than 1%) at day 21 after PBSC rescue undergo back-up ABM rescue. Patients without engraftment (granulocyte count less than 500/mm3 and untransfused platelets no greater than 20,000/mm3) by day 28 after rescue with ABM treated in vitro with VP-16 undergo rescue with untreated ABM.