PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:~Determine efficacy of CPX-351 by measuring the response rate as the sum of complete response (CR) and complete remission with incomplete count recovery (CRi) in older patients (age 60 and older) with: higher risk of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who are refractory/relapsed after prior hypomethylating (HMA) therapy; subjects greater than 75 years old with higher risk MDS who are HMA relapsed/refractory who have progressed to acute myeloid leukemia (AML)); AML with refractory/relapsed disease after prior HMA therapy for AML.~SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:~Determine the safety of CPX-351, as the frequency of Grade 3 to 5 SAEs~Determine the duration of remission (DOR) following induction therapy with CPX-351.~Determine overall survival (OS) at 12 months.~Determine the early induction mortality (at 30 and 60 days) following CPX-351 following induction therapy.~OUTLINE:~Patients receive liposomal cytarabine-daunorubicin CPX-351 intravenously (IV) at a dose of 65 units/m2/day over 90 minutes on days 1, 3, and 5 of each induction cycle.~1st INDUCTION: Patients receive liposomal cytarabine-daunorubicin CPX-351 IV at a dose of 65 units/m2/day over 90 minutes on days 1, 3, and 5. Patients achieving a complete remission (CR) or a CR with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) at day 14 proceed to consolidation therapy~2nd INDUCTION: Patients with reduced blast count not achieving a morphological leukemia free state (< 5% blasts) receive the 2nd course of induction therapy. Patients receive liposomal cytarabine-daunorubicin CPX-351 IV a dose of 65 units/m2/day over 90 minutes on days 1 and 3. Patients achieving a complete remission (CR) or a CR with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) after the 2nd course of induction therapy proceed to consolidation therapy.~CONSOLIDATION: Beginning on day 28, patients receive liposomal cytarabine-daunorubicin CPX-351 IV a dose of 65 units/m2/day over 90 minutes on days 1 and 3.~After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for up to 1 year.
This phase 2 clinical trial studies how well CPX-351 (liposomal cytarabine-daunorubicin) works in treating patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as CPX-351, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing.