Alvocidib, Cytarabine, and Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride or Cytarabine and Daunorubicin Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Inclusion Criteria: * All adults with established, pathologically confirmed diagnoses of newly diagnosed AML and adults with newly diagnosed AML, excluding newly diagnosed core-binding factor (CBF) AMLs and acute progranulocytic leukemia (APL, M3), will be considered eligible for study * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) 0-3 * Patients \>= 65 years of age must have ECOG PS =\< 2 prior to developing leukemic symptoms * Serum creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL * Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) =\< 5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (unless leukemic infiltration) * Total bilirubin =\< 2.0 mg/dL (unless Gilbert disease, hemolysis, or leukemia) * Left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ 45% * Newly diagnosed AML, subtypes M0, 1, 2, 4-7 but excluding M3 (APL), including those with the following poor risk features: * Antecedent hematologic disorder including myelodysplasia (MDS)-related AML (MDS/AML) and prior myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) * Treatment-related myeloid neoplasms (t-AML/t-MDS) * Myeloid sarcoma, myeloid proliferations related to Down Syndrome, and blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm * AML with multilineage dysplasia (AML-MLD) * Adverse cytogenetics (defined as -5/-5q; -7/-7q; abnormal 3q, 9q, 11q, 20q, 21q, or 17p; t(6;9); t(9;22); trisomy 8; trisomy 13; trisomy 21; and complex karyotypes (≥ 3 unrelated abnormalities) * Patients who have received hydroxyurea alone or have received non-cytotoxi…