Since continuous infusion of daunorubicin and of carboplatin have shown efficacy and reduced toxicity in early phase studies in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 34 elderly patients with high-risk AML were treated with continuous infusion daunorubicin, 30 mg/m2 per day, from day 1 to day 4, and carboplatin, 200 mg/m2 per day from day 3 to day 7. Seven patients had therapy-related AML and/or AML following a myelodysplastic syndrome at diagnosis, 15 were in first and two in second relapse, and 10 were resistant to previous anthracycline and cytarabine therapy. Nine patients or 26%, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) ranging from 18-67%, achieved complete remission, including one patient at diagnosis (14%, CI: 0-58%), seven with relapsed AML (41%, CI: 18-67%), and one with resistant AML (10%, CI: 0-45%). Median durations of neutropenia below 0.5 x 10(9)/l and of thrombocytopenia below 20 x 10(9)/l were 24 and 20 days respectively. Severe toxicity included infections in 20 patients (59%), bleeding in two (6%), cardiac anomalies in two (6%), and vomiting in one (3%). Overall four patients (12%) died from chemotherapy related toxicity and 21 (62%) had resistant disease. Median overall survival was 4 months and median disease-free survival 8 months. We conclude that this regimen had efficacy with reduced toxicity in relapsed patients. Higher dosages for the same drugs could be tolerated by better risk patients for precise evaluation of cross reactivity with cytarabine-based regimens.