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Inclusion Criteria:

* Biopsy proven nasopharyngeal carcinoma (World Health Organization \[WHO\] type 3) or extranodal NK-T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, nasal type (recurrence or metastases does not require tissue documentation)
* Patients must have metastatic disease or locally recurrent disease that is not amendable to surgical resection
* Patients must have locally recurrent disease that is not amendable to further treatment with radiotherapy with curative intent
* Patients must have metastatic disease or locally recurrent disease that has been treated with at least one regimen of chemotherapeutic agents after relapse; patient must be at least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy or radiation therapy
* Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 (Karnofsky \>= 60%)
* Life expectancy greater than 6 months
* Leukocytes \>= 3,000/ul
* Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/ul
* Platelets \>= 100,000/ul
* Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 X normal institutional limits
* Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
* Prothrombin time =\< 1.5 X normal institutional limits
* Serum albumin \>= 2.7 grams/deciliter
* Creatinine =\< 1.5 X normal institutional limits or a calculated creatinine clearance of \> 50 mls/min
* Sexually active women of child-bearing potential should have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test within 21 days of enrolling on trial; women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
* Patients must be informed of the investigational nature of the treatment, results that might be expected, and potential toxicities; they must be able to give informed written consent according to federal and institutional guidelines

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
* Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents
* Patients with known central nervous system (CNS) involvement (brain metastases or carcinomatous meningitis should be excluded from this clinical trial; patients with skull base involvement are eligible for this study
* History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to 5AC or SAHA
* Patients should not have taken sodium valproate for at least 2 weeks prior to enrollment
* Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
* Pregnant women are excluded from this study; breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with 5AC and SAHA
* Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients receiving combination anti-retroviral therapy are excluded from the study
* Patients with chronic active hepatitis B are excluded from the study

• Baltimore, Maryland, United States
• Shatin, Hong Kong
• Tokyo, Japan
• Singapore, Singapore
• Singapore, Singapore