Decitabine, Donor Natural Killer Cells, and Aldesleukin in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients with relapsed or refractory AML

  * Patients without a response after two cycles of decitabine
  * Patients with primary refractory AML (persistent disease after standard induction with 7+3) or relapsed AML
  * Patients who have relapsed post-allogeneic transplant
* Patients with secondary AML or therapy related disease (t-AML) are eligible; patients who received decitabine or 5-azacytidine as prior treatment for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) remain eligible
* Patients with central nervous system (CNS) leukemia are eligible as long as they have received treatment and most recent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis is negative for leukemia
* If the patient has co-morbid medical illness, life expectancy attributed to the comorbid illness must be greater than 6 months
* Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2
* Total bilirubin \< 2.0 mg/dL
* Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)(serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT)(serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) \< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
* Creatinine \< 2.0 mg/dL
* New York Heart Association (NYHA) congestive heart failure (CHF) class II or better
* Women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; if the patient does not agree, the patient is not eligible; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
* Ability to understand and willingness to sign the written informed consent document
* Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection without acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining criteria are eligible
* DONOR: Donors must be human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical first-degree relatives of the patient; eligible donors include biological parents, siblings or half-siblings, or children
* DONOR: Donor must be in general good health and eligible for apheresis as determined by the medical provider
* DONOR: HLA-haploidentical donor/recipient match by at least class I serologic typing at the HLA-A and B loci
* DONOR: Willing and able to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 2 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study
* Patients receiving any other investigational agents or patients that have received other investigational agents within 14 days of enrollment
* Patients with history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to decitabine that are not easily managed
* Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, serious cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements; as infection is a common feature of AML, patients with active infection are permitted to enroll provided that the infection is under control
* Patients with serious medical or psychiatric illness likely to interfere with participation in this clinical study
* Pregnant women or women who are breastfeeding are excluded from this study; confirmation that the subject is not pregnant must be established by a negative serum B-human chorionic gonadotropin (B-hCG) pregnancy test result obtained during screening; pregnancy testing is not required for post-menopausal or surgically sterilized women
* Patients with metastatic malignant solid tumors who received treatment in the past 6 months are excluded
* DONOR: Pregnancy
* DONOR: HIV