AT9283 in Treating Young Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Acute Leukemia

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically confirmed acute leukemia according to the following criteria: * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) meeting any of the following criteria: * Second relapse * Refractory to induction therapy for first relapse * Third or subsequent relapse * Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) meeting any of the following criteria: * Second or subsequent relapse * Refractory to an induction therapy for first relapse * Without a curative treatment option * Other type of acute leukemia meeting any of the following criteria: * First or subsequent relapse * Refractory to induction therapy * Not eligible for any therapy of higher curative potential * No chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) * Patients in relapse must have ≥ 5% blasts in the bone marrow * Patients with refractory disease following induction must have ≥ 20% blasts in the bone marrow * No evidence of CNS disease PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Karnofsky performance status (PS) 50-100% OR Lansky PS 50-100% * Life expectancy ≥ 8 weeks * Serum bilirubin \< 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * ALT or AST \< 2.5 times ULN (5 times ULN if due to leukemic infiltration of the liver) * Creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile female patients must use 2 of the following combined forms of contraception (oral, injected, or implanted hormonal contraception and condom OR intra-uterine device and condom OR diaphragm with spermicidal gel and condom) before, during, and for 6 months after completion of study therapy * Male patients must use 1 form of highly effective contraception (condom plus spermicidal gel) during and for 6 months after completion of study therapy * Men with pregnant or lactating partners should be advised to use barrier-method contraception (condom plus spermicidal gel) * No serological positivity for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV * No congenital heart disease, with the exception of patent foramen ovale or small muscular ventricular septal deficit (within the first year of life) * No uncontrolled arterial hypertension (defined as a systolic blood pressure \[BP\] and/or diastolic BP ≥ 95th percentile for age and height) * No fractional shortening of ≤ 29% on echocardiogram * No active graft-vs-host disease * No current non-malignant systemic disease considered high medical risk, including any of the following: * Active uncontrolled infection * Unstable or uncompensated respiratory or cardiac condition that makes study participation undesirable * No other condition that, in the Investigator's opinion, would not make the patient a good candidate for the clinical trial PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * Recovered from toxicity of prior therapy, including toxicity following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation * Alopecia or certain grade 1 toxicities allowed at the discretion of the Investigator * A maximum of 2 days of hydroxycarbamide 10-20 mg/kg/day (or according to local practice) in patients with AML and hyperleukocytosis allowed * At least 7 days since prior investigational drugs (except antibodies for which a 4-week window must be observed) * At least 7 days since prior protein kinase inhibitors and intrathecal therapy * Concurrent intrathecal therapy allowed from course 2 onwards in patients with ALL * At least 14 days since prior cytotoxic therapy, including vincristine and other anti-neoplastics * No prior major thoracic or abdominal surgery from which the patient has not yet recovered * No prior aurora kinase inhibitor * No concurrent steroid therapy * Multikinase inhibitor AT9283 administration may be commenced once steroids have started; however, steroids may not be started once multikinase inhibitor AT9283 has started * Up to 5 days of prior oral dexamethasone (6 mg/m\^2) for patients with ALL experiencing a rapid rise in blast count allowed * No other concurrent interventional clinical study * Participation in an observational study allowed * No other concurrent anticancer therapy or investigational drugs