Conditions: Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Multilineage Dysplasia Following Myelodysplastic Syndrome Adult Acute Megakaryoblastic Leukemia (M7) Adult Acute Minimally Differentiated Myeloid Leukemia (M0) Adult Acute Monoblastic Leukemia (M5a) Adult Acute Monocytic Leukemia (M5b) Adult Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia With Maturation (M2) Adult Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia Without Maturation (M1) Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With 11q23 (MLL) Abnormalities Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Del(5q) Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Inv(16)(p13;q22) Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With t(16;16)(p13;q22) Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With t(8;21)(q22;q22) Adult Acute Myelomonocytic Leukemia (M4) Adult Erythroleukemia (M6a) Adult Pure Erythroid Leukemia (M6b) Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia Untreated Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 84
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This randomized phase II trial is studying the side effects and how well giving tipifarnib together with etoposide works in treating older patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia. Tipifarnib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as etoposide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving tipifarnib together with etoposide may kill more cancer cells.

Detailed description:
OBJECTIVES:

I. To compare the efficacy and toxicity of two schedules of tipifarnib plus etoposide as induction therapy in older patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia.

II. To study mechanisms of leukemia cell resistance to tipifarnib in combination with etoposide.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

ARM I: Patients receive 600 mg of oral tipifarnib twice daily on days 1-14 and 100 mg of oral etoposide once daily on days 1-3 and 8-10.

ARM II: Patients receive 400 mg of oral tipifarnib twice daily on days 1-14 and 200 mg of oral etoposide once daily on days 1-3 and 8-10. (closed to accrual as of November 2008)

Treatment in both arms repeats every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed at 30 days and then every 90 days thereafter.

Arms:
arm 1: Patients receive 600 mg of oral tipifarnib twice daily on days 1-14 and 100 mg of oral etoposide once daily on days 1-3 and 8-10. arm 2: Patients receive 400 mg of oral tipifarnib twice daily on days 1-14 and 200 mg of oral etoposide once daily on days 1-3 and 8-10.

Interventions: intervention 1: tipifarnib intervention 2: etoposide
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Given orally intervention 2: Given orally

Protocol document: