OBJECTIVES:~Explore the clinical efficacy of PHA-739358, in terms of hematological response lasting ≥ 4 weeks, in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia that relapsed after imatinib mesylate or c-ABL therapy.~Explore the safety profile of this drug in these patients.~Explore the pharmacokinetic profile of this drug and its N-oxide metabolite PHA-816359 in plasma.~Explore the modulation of histone H3 and CRKL phosphorylation after PHA-739358 administration.~Explore the relationship between plasma drug levels and the modulation of histone H3 and CRKL phosphorylation.~Explore the clinical efficacy of this drug, in terms of cytogenetic response in bone marrow.~Explore response depending on status of T315I mutation in BCR-ABL kinase.~OUTLINE: This is a pilot, open-label, multicenter study.~Patients receive PHA-739358 IV over 6 hours on days 1, 8, and 15. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients benefitting from treatment may receive additional courses at the discretion of the investigator.~Patients undergo blood collection and bone marrow biopsies periodically for pharmacologic and biomarker correlative studies.~After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year.~PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 16 patients will be accrued for this study.
RATIONALE: PHA-739358 may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.~PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well PHA-739358 works in treating patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia that relapsed after imatinib mesylate or c-ABL therapy.