DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Morphological diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

  • No acute promyelocytic leukemia (FAB M3)

• Must have cytogenetic analysis performed on bone marrow specimen

  • Patients stratified into the good-risk* group are only eligible if their AML has favorable cytogenetics (core-binding factor AML) or has a normal karyotype
  • Patients stratified into the poor-risk group are eligible independent of the cytogenetic analysis NOTE: *Protocol closed to accrual as of 6/11/2009 for good-risk patients classifed as "worse".
• Pretreatment bone marrow and/or peripheral blood specimens available
• Previously untreated disease

• Patients with a history of antecedent myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are eligible, if prior treatment did not include intensive chemotherapy AND patients are off therapy for ≥ 30 days prior to study registration and recovered

  • Prior hematopoietic growth factors, thalidomide/lenalidomide, azacitidine/decitabine, arsenic trioxide, signal transduction inhibitors, or low-dose cytarabine (< 100 mg/m2/day) for treatment of MDS allowed
• No myeloid blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia
• No clinical evidence suggestive of CNS involvement with leukemia unless a lumbar puncture confirms the absence of leukemic blasts in the cerebrospinal fluid

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG/WHO/Zubrod performance status 0-3

• WBC < 10,000/μL

  • Patients with WBC ≥10,000/μL must undergo cytoreduction with hydroxyurea prior to study enrollment
  • Patients with symptoms/signs of hyperleukocytosis or WBC > 100,000/μL may be treated with leukapheresis prior to study enrollment
• Bilirubin ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (unless elevation is thought to be due to hepatic infiltration by AML, Gilbert's syndrome, or hemolysis)
• ALT and AST ≤ 1.5 times ULN (unless elevation is thought to be due to hepatic infiltration by AML)
• Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN
• Not pregnant or nursing
• For women: postmenopausal status or negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for ≥ 3 months after completion of study therapy
• LVEF ≥ 40% by MUGA scan or echocardiogram
• No clinical evidence of congestive heart failure

• No other malignancy unless the patient was diagnosed ≥ 2 years ago AND has been disease-free for ≥ 6 months following completion of curative intent therapy

  • Patients with treated non-melanoma skin cancer, in situ carcinoma, or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia are eligible provided definitive treatment for the condition has been completed
  • Patients with organ-confined prostate cancer are eligible provided there is no evidence of recurrent or progressive disease, based on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values, AND hormonal therapy has been initiated or a radical prostatectomy has been performed
• No known hypersensitivity to hydroxyurea, gemtuzumab ozogamicin, or vorinostat
• No HIV positivity
• No uncontrolled systemic fungal, bacterial, viral, or other infection (defined as exhibiting ongoing signs/symptoms related to the infection AND infection has not improved despite appropriate antibiotics or other treatment)

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• No prior systemic chemotherapy for AML, except for hydroxyurea
• No prior treatment with AML induction-type chemotherapy, gemtuzumab ozogamicin, or high-dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem cell support
• More than 3 years since prior treatment with histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), including the use of valproic acid for seizure activity or other purposes
• Must not plan to undergo treatment for prior malignancy
• No concurrent hormone therapy