The incidence of AML increases with age, and current treatment options for the older patient population with newly diagnosed AML (AML >= 60) is limited, all with poor outcomes. AML >= 60 patients are more likely to have poor-risk cytogenetics abnormalities, and many have a preceding myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Traditional induction chemotherapy approaches in AML with cytarabine and anthracyclines yield remissions in 45-60% of AML >= 60, however the vast majority of these patients relapse with a median survival of about 9 months. These patients are rarely candidates for potentially curative allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Many untreated AML >= 60 patients are not candidates for aggressive therapy, and those who do receive therapy have a significant induction mortality of 10-20%, and significant hematologic toxicity occurs in over 30%, with no change in overall survival compared with supportive care. AML >= 60 patients with favorable risk cytogenetics have a modest improvement in prognosis, for example with a 5 year overall survival of ~20%, compared with 0% in other cytogenetic categories. Thus, all eligible patients with AML >= 60 should be recommended a clinical trial, regardless of whether they would be offered generally ineffective traditional induction chemotherapy. More effective and less toxic therapies are needed for the treatment of AML in this older patient population, indeed the preferred first line therapy in the national cancer center network (NCCN) guidelines for AML is a clinical trial.