Azacitidine With or Without Nivolumab or Midostaurin, or Decitabine and Cytarabine Alone in Treating Older Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia or High-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Inclusion Criteria

• REGISTRATION STEP 1-SPECIMEN SUBMISSION
• Patients must be suspected to have previously untreated acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome with excess blasts-2 (MDS-EB-2)
• Patients must not be known to have AML in the central nervous system (CNS)
• Patients must have specimens submitted for FLT3 testing for randomization stratification; collection of pretreatment specimens must be completed within 1 day of registration to Step 1; specimens must be submitted via the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) Specimen Tracking System; FLT3 results will be used for stratification purposes at the time of randomization; E-mail notification of randomization assignment must be received prior to Step 2 registration
• Patients must be offered participation in specimen banking; with patient consent, pretreatment specimens must be collected and submitted via the SWOG Specimen Tracking System
• Patients who have received prior therapy with midostaurin, any anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 therapy, any deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-methyltransferase inhibitor (including hypomethylating agents such as azacitidine, decitabine, or other investigational agent that acts by inhibiting DNA or ribonucleic acid [RNA] methylation) for any condition, or prior intensive cytotoxic therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), are not eligible
• Patients must be able to swallow oral medications without crushing or chewing
• Prior malignancy is allowed providing it does not require concurrent therapy
• Exception: active hormonal therapy is allowed
• Patients must not be pregnant or nursing; women/men of reproductive potential must have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method; a woman is considered to be of "reproductive potential" if she has had menses at any time in the preceding 12 consecutive months; in addition to routine contraceptive methods, "effective contraception also includes (but is not limited to) heterosexual celibacy and surgery intended to prevent pregnancy (or with a side-effect of pregnancy prevention) defined as a hysterectomy, bilateral oophorectomy, bilateral tubal ligation, or vasectomy; however, if at any point a previously celibate patient chooses to become heterosexually active during the time period for use of contraceptive measures outlined in the protocol, he/she is responsible for beginning contraceptive measures
• Women must agree to avoid breast-feeding and women of child-bearing potential (WOCBP) must agree to use highly effective contraception while receiving study drug and for a period of 31 weeks after the last dose of study drug; sexually-active men must agree to use a condom while receiving study drug and for 31 weeks after the last dose of study drug; vasectomized men must also agree to use a condom to avoid delivering drug in the seminal fluid
• Patients must be informed of the investigational nature of this study and must sign and give written informed consent in accordance with institutional and federal guidelines
• As a part of the Oncology Patient Enrollment Network (OPEN) registration process the treating institution's identity is provided in order to ensure that the current (within 365 days) date of institutional review board approval for this study has been entered in the system
• REGISTRATION STEP 2-RANDOMIZATION: Patients must be registered to Step 2 no more than 42 days after registration to Step 1 and no more than 42 days after collection of specimens for FLT3 testing
• REGISTRATION STEP 2-RANDOMIZATION: Patients must have morphologically confirmed, previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or MDS with excess blasts-2 (MDS-EB-2)
• Patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), biphenotypic leukemia, blastic transformation of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML or BCR/ABL), are not eligible
• Patients must have disease present in the blood or bone marrow; patients with only extramedullary disease in the absence of bone marrow or blood involvement are not eligible
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