PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:~1) To determine whether there is an association between baseline mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation paired with mTOR target inhibition post-treatment in leukemic blasts and clinical response in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated with sirolimus idarubicin/cytarabine.~SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:~To estimate the response rate of sirolimus idarubicin/cytarabine in patients with newly diagnosed AML compared to historical data using idarubicin/cytarabine alone.~To determine the ability of oral sirolimus to inhibit mTOR in leukemic blasts.~To assess if mTOR pathway inhibition correlates with clinical response.~To collect further information on the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of sirolimus in combination with idarubicin/cytarabine in patients with newly diagnosed AML.~To describe the progression-free survival and overall survival (1 year, 2 year and 5 year) of patients treated with sirolimus idarubicin/cytarabine.~OUTLINE:~Patients receive sirolimus orally (PO) once daily (QD) on days 1-10, idarubicin intravenously (IV) over 3-5 minutes on days 4-6, and cytarabine IV continuously over 24 hours on days 4-10.~After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3 months for 5 years.
This pilot clinical trial studies sirolimus, idarubicin, and cytarabine in treating patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. Sirolimus may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as idarubicin and cytarabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving sirolimus together with idarubicin and cytarabine may kill more cancer cells.