Dasatinib and Vorinostat in Treating Patients With Accelerated Phase or Blastic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Inclusion criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Diagnosis of 1 of the following hematologic malignancies: * Chronic myelogenous leukemia meeting 1 of the following criteria: * In accelerated phase, defined by the presence of ≥ 1 of the following: * At least 15% but \< 30% blasts in peripheral blood and/or bone marrow * At least 30% blasts plus promyelocytes in peripheral blood or bone marrow (providing that \< 30% blasts are present in bone marrow) * At least 20% basophils in peripheral blood * Platelet count \< 100,000/mm³ (unrelated to therapy) OR platelet count \> 100,000/mm³ and unresponsive to therapy * Cytogenetic evidence of clonal evolution * Increasing spleen size and increasing WBC count and unresponsive to therapy * In blastic phase (blast crisis), defined by the presence of ≥ 1 of the following: * At least 30% blasts in peripheral blood and/or bone marrow * Extramedullary infiltrates of leukemic cells (other than liver or spleen involvement) * Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia meeting any of the following criteria: * Newly diagnosed or relapsed disease * Previously treated with chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, or tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) * No active CNS involvement PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * ECOG performance status 0-2 * Total bilirubin \< 2.0 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN * Serum sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphate, and calcium ≥ lower limit of normal * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for ≥ 4 weeks after discontinuation of study drug * Able to take oral medication * No active post-transplantation-related infections (e.g., fungal or viral infection) * No active acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) of any grade * No chronic GVHD (other than mild skin, oral, or ocular GVHD not requiring systemic immunosuppression) * No other malignancy that required radiotherapy or systemic treatment within the past 5 years * No concurrent medical condition that may increase the risk of toxicity, including pleural or pericardial effusion of any grade * No cardiac conditions, including any of the following: * Uncontrolled angina, congestive heart failure, or myocardial infarction within the past 6 months * Diagnosed congenital long QT syndrome * History of clinically significant ventricular arrhythmias (e.g., ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, or Torsades de pointes) * Prolonged QTc interval (i.e., QTc \> 450 msec) on baseline EKG * No hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia that cannot be corrected prior to dasatinib administration * No history of significant bleeding disorder unrelated to cancer, including any of the following: * Diagnosed congenital bleeding disorder (e.g., von Willebrand's disease) * Acquired bleeding disorder diagnosed within the past year (e.g., acquired anti-factor VIII antibodies) * Ongoing or recent (i.e., within the past 3 months) significant gastrointestinal bleeding * No prisoners or individuals who are compulsorily detained (i.e., involuntarily incarcerated) for treatment of either a psychiatric or physical (e.g., infectious) illness PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics * Recovered from prior therapy * No prior HDAC inhibitors or compounds with HDAC inhibitor-like activity (e.g., valproic acid) as anti-tumor therapy * Prior valproic acid for the treatment of seizures allowed provided it was not given within the past 30 days * Prior allogeneic stem cell transplantation allowed * More than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy other than TKI (6 weeks for nitrosoureas and mitomycin) * More than 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy * At least 7 days since prior and no concurrent Category I drugs that are generally accepted to have a risk of causing Torsades de pointes, including any of the following: * Quinidine, procainamide, or disopyramide * Amiodarone, sotalol, ibutilide, or dofetilide * Erythromycin or clarithromycin * Chlorpromazine, haloperidol, mesoridazine, thioridazine, or pimozide * Cisapride, bepridil, droperidol, methadone, arsenic, chloroquine, domperidone, halofantrine, levomethadyl, pentamidine, sparfloxacin, or lidoflazine * At least 7 days since prior and no concurrent medications that directly and durably inhibit platelet function, including any of the following: * Aspirin or aspirin-containing combinations, clopidogrel, or dipyridamole * Tirofiban, epoprostenol, eptifibatide, cilostazol, abciximab, ticlopidine, or cilostazol * At least 5 days since prior and no concurrent St. John's wort * No IV bisphosphonates during the first 8 weeks of dasatinib therapy