PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:~I. Determine the activity of CCI-779 in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, or chronic myelogenous leukemia in blastic phase.~II. Correlate the effect of this drug with altered mitochondrial respiration in the leukemia cells of these patients.~OUTLINE: Patients are stratified according to disease (acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelogenous leukemia in blastic phase [CML-BP] non-lymphoid vs acute lymphoblastic leukemia, CML-BP lymphoid).~Patients receive CCI-779 IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, 15, and 22. Courses repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.~Patients are followed every 2 months.~PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 24-74 patients (12-37 per stratum) will be accrued for this study within 8-46 months.
Drugs used in chemotherapy such as CCI-779 work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. This phase II trial is studying how well CCI-779 works in treating patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or chronic myelogenous leukemia in blastic phase