Must have newly diagnosed, previously untreated NHL of T-cell lineage including extranodal types (i.e. extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma nasal type, enteropathy-type T-cell lymphoma, hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma, and subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma) and nodal types (i.e. angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma); must have Stage III, Stage IV, or bulky Stage II extent of disease; adequate sections (one H&E stained section AND a paraffin block, two 0.6 cm tissue corse, or 20 unstained slides) from the original specimen must be made available for pathology review; must consent to the tissue and serum sample submission requirements as outlined in Section 15.4; must have bidimensionally measurable disease documented w/in 28 days prior to registration, non-measurable disease must be assessed w/in 42 days prior to registration; must not have received prior cytotoxic therapy or RT for their PTCL-NHL; prior biological therapy must be completed at least 3 weeks prior to registration; ANC >= 1,500/mcL, platelets >=100,000/mcL w/in 28 days prior to registration; serum bilirubin <= 2 X IULN w/in 28 days prior to registration; must have bilateral or unilateral bone marrow aspirate and biopsy performed w/in 42 days prior to registration; measured OR estimated creatinine clearance >= 30 mL/min w/in 28 days prior to registration; must not have plans for other concommitant chemotherapeutic agents or RT; must not be pregnant or nursing; patients with mild hearing loss must be willing to accept the potential for worsening of symptoms; must have chest x-ray or CT scan of the chest and a CT scan or the abdomen and pelvis w/in 28 days prior to registration; must not have clinical evidence of CNS involvement by lymphoma; must not have a history of impaired cardiac status; must be HIV negative; no prior malignancy is allowed except for adequately treated basal cell (or squamous cell) skin cancer, in situ cervical cancer or other cancer for which the patient has been disease-free for 5 years; >= age 18; PS=0-2