PKC412, Daunorubicin, and Cytarabine in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Determine the safety and tolerability of PKC412 administered sequentially or concurrently with induction chemotherapy comprising daunorubicin and cytarabine followed by consolidation therapy comprising high-dose cytarabine in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. * Compare the pharmacokinetics of these regimens in these patients. Secondary * Determine the efficacy of these regimens, in terms of response rate, disease-free survival, and overall survival, in these patients. * Correlate genetic variation in drug metabolism genes, leukemia genes, and drug target genes with response in patients treated with these regimens. OUTLINE: This is an open-label, multicenter study. Patients are alternately assigned to 1 of 2 induction treatment groups. * Induction therapy: * Group I (sequential therapy): Patients receive daunorubicin IV over 30 minutes on days 1-3, cytarabine IV continuously on days 1-7, and oral PKC412 twice daily on days 8-21 in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. * Group II (concurrent therapy): Patients receive daunorubicin and cytarabine as in group I and oral PKC412 twice daily on days 1-7 and 15-21 in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. In both groups, patients are evaluated on day 28. Patients with persistent disease receive a second induction course comprising daunorubicin IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 2, cytarabine IV continuously on days 1-5, and oral PKC412 on the same schedule as their assigned treatment group. Patients with a complete response after course 1 or course 2 proceed to consolidation therapy. * Consolidation therapy: Patients in both groups receive high-dose cytarabine IV over 3 hours twice daily on days 1, 3, and 5 and oral PKC412 on the same schedule as their assigned treatment group. Treatment repeats every 28-42 days for 3 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of consolidation therapy, patients in both groups continue to receive PKC412 alone, according to their assigned treatment group, every 28-42 days for up to 3 years in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed every 3 months.