Busulfan and Etoposide Followed by Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplant and Low-Dose Aldesleukin in Treating Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Inclusion Criteria:

* The patient must have AML that falls into one of the following categories:
* AML in 1st complete remission (CR) with intermediate or high risk of relapse following conventional therapy; at least, one of the following features is needed:

  * Patient required more than one cycle of induction to achieve first CR
  * White blood cell count (WBC) \> 100,000/mm\^3 at diagnosis
  * Any of the following cytogenetic abnormalities: inv (3), t(3:3), del (5q) or -5, 11q23, del(7q) or -7, del (20q) or -20, abnormal 12p, +11 or t8
  * Any other abnormalities or combination of abnormalities which would predict intermediate or high risk of relapse
* AML beyond first CR
* Any patient with an identical twin donor who also meets the criteria above
* Patients with AML in 1st CR should receive at least two cycles of consolidation chemotherapy prior to mobilization and transplant
* Patients must have an adequate number of stem cells previously collected (i.e., \> 2 x 10\^8 total nucleated cell \[TNC\] of bone marrow \[BM\]/kg or 4 x 10\^6 \[CD\]34+ PBSC/kg, unless approved otherwise by Dr. Holmberg); prior to stem cell collection patients must be documented to be in remission and to have received two cycles of consolidation therapy after induction therapy
* Pre-Study tests have been performed
* Patient must sign an institutional review board (IRB) approved informed consent, conforming with federal and institutional guidelines

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients with good risk AML defined by cytogenetic evaluation with these abnormalities: inversion 16 or t8;21
* Patient's life expectancy is severely limited by diseases other than AML
* Patient is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive
* Patient is pregnant
* Patient's creatinine \> 2.0 mg/dl
* Patient's total bilirubin \> 2.0 mg/dl (unless Gilbert's disease)
* Or serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT)/serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) \>= 2.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) not due to leukemia
* Patient has a history of congestive heart failure, uncontrolled arrhythmias or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) \< 50%
* Patient has an unrelated human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched donor and is eligible for a higher priority Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) protocol (for FHCRC patients only)
* Patient has an HLA matched or one antigen mismatch family donor available
* Patients with a significant active infection that precludes transplant
* Patients with a Karnofsky Performance Score less than 70