Daunorubicin & Cytarabine +/- Zosuquidar inTreating Older Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Refractory Anemia

OBJECTIVES: * Compare the overall survival and progression-free survival of elderly patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia, refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB) in transformation, or high-risk RAEB treated with daunorubicin and cytarabine with or without zosuquidar trihydrochloride. * Compare the complete remission rate of patients treated with these regimens. * Compare the toxicity of these regimens in these patients. * Compare the systemic exposure of daunorubicin and cytarabine in patients treated with zosuquidar trihydrochloride vs placebo. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to age (60-69 years vs 70 years and over), disease (refractory anemia with excess blasts \[RAEB\] vs RAEB in transformation or acute myeloid leukemia \[AML\]), and disease type (de novo vs secondary). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Induction: * Arm I: Patients receive daunorubicin via intravenous (IV) infusion over 10-15 minutes and zosuquidar trihydrochloride IV over 6 hours on days 1-3. Patients also receive cytarabine IV continuously on days 1-7. * Arm II: Patients receive daunorubicin and cytarabine as in arm I. Patients also receive placebo IV over 6 hours on days 1-3. Beginning on day 12, patients who achieve aplasia receive filgrastim (G-CSF) or sargramostim (GM-CSF) subcutaneously (SC) or IV daily until blood counts recover. Patients who have evidence of persistent AML are eligible to receive a second identical course of induction chemotherapy. * Consolidation I (beginning within 8 weeks after documentation of complete remission \[CR\] or measurable remission \[MR\]): Patients who achieve a CR or MR receive cytarabine IV over 1 hour once or twice daily on days 1-6 and GM-CSF or G-CSF SC or IV beginning on day 7 and continuing until blood counts recover. * Consolidation II: Patients who have maintained peripheral blood evidence of a remission receive daunorubicin, cytarabine, and zosuquidar trihydrochloride or placebo as in induction chemotherapy. Patients also receive GM-CSF or G-CSF SC or IV beginning on day 8 or after last cytarabine dose and continuing until blood counts recover. Patients are followed monthly for 1 year, every 2 months for 1 year, every 3 months for 1 year, and then every 6 months for 2 years. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 450 patients (225 per treatment arm) accrued over 4.1 years.