Vorinostat and Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin in Treating Older Patients With Previously Untreated Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Inclusion Criteria

• •Morphological diagnosis of AML other then acute promyelocytic leukemia (FAB M3) according to WHO diagnostic criteria; diagnosis of AML must be based on bone marrow or peripheral blood studies obtained within 28 days prior to study registration or start of hydroxyurea (for patients presenting with WBC \>= 10,000/uL), and no potentially anti-leukemic therapy (with the exception of hydroxyurea) must have been given between AML diagnosis and study registration; a bone marrow biopsy is not routinely required but should be obtained if the aspirate is dilute, hypocellular, or inaspirable; outside bone marrows performed within the stipulated time period are acceptable as long as the slides are reviewed at a study institution
• •Pretreatment bone marrow and peripheral blood specimens for correlative studies are available; if bone marrow was performed at an outside facility, submission of peripheral blood only is acceptable as long as the peripheral blast count is \> 5,000/uL and \> 50% of total WBC
• •Patients with a history of antecedent MDS are eligible, if prior treatment did not include intensive chemotherapy; patients may have received hematopoietic growth factors, thalidomide/lenalidomide, 5-azacytidine/decitabine, arsenic trioxide, signal transduction inhibitors, or low dose cytarabine (\< 100 mg/m2/day) for treatment of MDS; patients must be off prior therapy for MDS at least 30 days prior to study registration, and all non-hematologic toxicities must have resolved to \< grade 2
• •ECOG/WHO/Zubrod performance status of 0-3
• •Bilirubin =\< 2.5 x Institutional Upper Limit of Normal (IULN) unless elevation is thought to be due to hepatic infiltration by AML, Gilbert's syndrome, or hemolysis (assessed within 14 days prior to registration)
• •SGOT (AST) and SPGT (ALT) =\< 1.5 x IULN unless elevation is thought to be due to hepatic infiltration by AML (assessed within 14 days prior to registration)
• •Serum creatinine =\< 1.5 x IULN (assessed within 14 days prior to registration)
• •Left ventricular ejection fraction \>= 40% and no clinical evidence of congestive heart failure (assessed within 28 days prior to registration, e.g. by MUGA scan or echocardiography)
• •Men of reproductive potential must use an effective contraceptive method throughout the study and for a period of at least 3 months after the study
• •Women must be postmenopausal; a postmenopausal woman is defined as a woman who has experienced amenorrhea \> 12 consecutive months or a woman on hormone replacement therapy with documented FSH level \> 35 mIU/mL (women of childbearing potential must have a pregnancy test within 28 days prior to registration, and must use an adequate method of contraception to avoid pregnancy throughout the study and for a period of at least 3 months after the study)
• •Provide signed written informed consent
• •Willingness to undergo bone marrow examination on day 8 of first induction cycle
• •WBC \< 10,000/uL (patients with WBC \>= 10,000/uL must undergo cytoreduction with hydroxyurea prior to enrollment and will not be enrolled if the WBC remains \>= 10,000/uL (of note, patients with symptoms/signs of hyperleukocytosis or WBC \> 100,000/uL can be treated with leukapheresis prior to enrollment)