RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more cancer cells.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of peripheral stem cell transplantation with high-dose cytarabine in treating patients with myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myelogenous leukemia.

OBJECTIVES:

• Assess the value of autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation versus high dose cytarabine (Ara-C) performed after a common induction and consolidation course in patients with poor prognosis myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myelogenous leukemia secondary to MDS.
• Compare the disease free survival and overall survival of patients who reached complete recovery according to the presence of an HLA-identical donor.
• Monitor cytogenetic and clonal remission after intensive antileukemic therapy including stem cell transplantation.
• Monitor residual disease and the hematopoietic clonal status of autologous peripheral blood stem cells mobilized after one consolidation course.
• Assess recovery time of granulocyte and platelet counts following each treatment step.

OUTLINE: Induction treatment with idarubicin on days 1,3,5; Ara-C from days 1 through 10; etoposide on days 1 through 5. On day 28 there will be assessment of responses. If there is at least partial response, the cycle will repeat the induction course for another 28 days. There is peripheral blood stem cell collection and cryopreservation following family HLA-typing. If there is no HLA match, then those who remained in remission after these consolidation courses will be randomized to either peripheral blood stem cell transplantation or HiDAC treatment.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: 80 patients will be entered per year.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Pathological confirmation of one of the following:

  • Untreated refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB) in transformation
  • RAEB with greater than 10% blasts cells in the bone marrow
  • Other myelodysplastic syndromes
  • Profound cytopenias
  • Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) supervening after overt myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) of more than 6 months duration

• No blast crisis of chronic myeloid leukemia

• No leukemias supervening after other myeloproliferative disease

• No leukemias supervening after overt MDS of less than 6 months duration

• The following are allowed:

  • Secondary acute leukemias following Hodgkin's disease or other malignancies
  • Secondary leukemias following exposure to alkylating agents or radiation

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 16-60

Performance status:

• WHO 0-2

Hematopoietic:

• If RAEB, blasts cells of greater than 10% in bone marrow
• Neutrophil count less than 5,000 or Platelet count less than 200,000
• Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) with greater than 5% blasts cells in bone marrow, or CMML with neutrophil count greater than 160,000 or monocyte count greater than 2,600

Hepatic:

• Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times normal

Renal:

• Creatinine no greater than 1.5 times normal

Cardiovascular:

• No patients with severe heart failure requiring diuretics or an ejection fraction of less than 50%

Neurological:

• No severe concomitant neurological disease

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• No treatments within the past 4 weeks of:

  • Biological response modifiers AND/OR
  • Low dose Ara-C

Chemotherapy:

• No prior intensive treatment for MDS or AML

Endocrine therapy:

• Not specified

Radiotherapy:

• No prior treatment for MDS or AML

Surgery:

• Not specified