OUTLINE: Patients receive treatment prior to induction therapy on protocols CYL 90-03 and CYL 97-59. Induction therapy consists of amifostine IV on days 1 and 5 and three times a week from days 6 to 28. Fifteen minutes after amifostine on days 1 and 5, patients receive cytarabine IV over 3 hours at hour 0 and hour 12 and mitoxantrone IV over 1 hour at hour 15. Patients who do not enter remission receive a second course of induction therapy. Patients with persistent AML following a second course are removed from the study. Patients who achieve a complete response (CR), clinical CR, or remission in bone marrow but without hematologic recovery or who return to myelodysplastic syndrome receive consolidation therapy. Consolidation therapy consists of amifostine IV on days 1 and 5 and then three times a week until blood counts recover or day 30, whichever comes first. Patients also receive cytarabine and mitoxantrone as in induction therapy. Patients receive a second course of consolidation therapy beginning 1 week after blood counts recover. After completion of consolidation therapy, patients are enrolled on protocol MDS 97-53.