In the past 40 years, advances in supportive care and development of chemotherapeutic agents have led to improved outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. High relapse rates following remission have led to extensive efforts to develop techniques and regimens for detecting and eliminating minimal residual disease. However, the best postremission therapy has not been identified. Better understanding of the biology and the molecular pathogenesis of AML has led to the development of new, more specific agents and strategies for AML treatment. Targeted therapy has improved outcomes in some patients. Most of the new agents are less toxic then their predecessors, and they can be used in combination with the more intensive traditional regimens.