7-Hydroxystaurosporine and Perifosine in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Acute Leukemia, Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia or High Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Inclusion Criteria:

Histologically or cytologically confirmed hematologic malignancy of 1 of the following types:

Relapsed or refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)

Patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia t(15;17) are eligible provided they failed a prior tretinoin and arsenic-containing regimen

Patients should be either refractory to both agents (absence of durable hematologic response) OR relapsed after a complete response duration of < 6 months
Relapsed or refractory pre-B-cell or T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in accelerated or blastic phase that is refractory to imatinib mesylate

Must have evidence of disease progression despite continued treatment with imatinib mesylate
AML arising in the setting of underlying myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and/or myeloproliferative disorders (MPD)
Secondary or therapy-related AML

De novo AML or pre-B-cell or T-cell ALL in adults > 60 years of age with poor-risk features, such as complex (≥ 3) or adverse cytogenetics

The following are considered adverse cytogenetic abnormalities for AML:

-5q
7q-
9q-
20q-
abn12p
+21
+8
t(6;9)
t(6;11)
t(11;19)
-7
-5
inv3/t(3;3)
abn11q23
abn17p
abn21q
t(9;22) refractory to imatinib mesylate

The following are considered adverse cytogenetic abnormalities for ALL:

t(9;22) refractory to imatinib mesylate
Hypodiploidy
t(4;11)
t(1;19)

Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) meeting 1 of the following criteria:

Intermediate and high risk (i.e., International Prognostic Scoring System [IPSS] ≥ 1.5) MDS that is refractory or has progressed after treatment with azacitidine and/or decitabine
Intermediate and high risk (i.e., IPSS ≥ 1.5) MDS with a 5q- cytogenetic abnormality that is refractory or has progressed after treatment with lenalidomide, azacitidine, or decitabine

Intermediate 2 and high risk MDS without 5q- cytogenetic abnormality that is refractory or has progressed after azacitidine or decitabine

Original 5q must also be refractory to lenalidomide
Received OR ineligible for established curative regimens, including stem cell transplantation
No active CNS leukemia
ECOG performance status (PS) 0-2 OR Karnofsky PS ≥ 60%
Total or direct bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
AST/ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN
Creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL
Not pregnant or nursing
Negative pregnancy test
Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after completion of study treatment
No hyperleukocytosis (i.e., WBC > 30,000/mm^3) (recent treatment with hydroxyurea to prevent impending leukostasis allowed provided there has been no dose increase for ≥ 1 week)
No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to UCN-01 or perifosine
No intrinsic impaired organ function

No active, uncontrolled infection

Infection that is controlled with antibiotics allowed
No symptomatic cardiac disease
No active ischemia on EKG

LVEF ≥ 40% by echocardiogram or MUGA

Patients with a history of cardiac disease or mediastinal radiation should undergo testing of ventricular function
No poorly controlled diabetes mellitus
No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude giving informed consent or complying with study requirements
No HIV positivity
See Disease Characteristics
At least 4 weeks since prior cytotoxic chemotherapy (6 weeks for carmustine or mitomycin C) and recovered
At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
At least 4 weeks since prior autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT)

At least 90 days since prior allogeneic SCT

No evidence of graft vs host disease
At least 2 weeks since prior immunosuppressive therapy
No concurrent hematopoietic growth factors or biologic agents
No other concurrent investigational agents, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy
No other concurrent anticancer therapy