Abstract: Objective To explore the effect and safety of idarubicin combined with cytarabine in treatment of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia(AML). Methods Clinical materials of 60 AML patients from July 2014 to January 2016 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, and 31 patients treated with idarubicin and cytarabine were selected as group A, while 29 patients treated with daunorubicin and cytarabine were selected as group B. The clinical effect, safety and 3-year survival rate were compared between the two groups. Results The total effective rate of group A was 93.55%, which was significantly higher than 72.41% in group B(P<0.05). There were severe myelosuppression and stage III to IV hematologic side effects in both groups, but there was no significant difference in hematologic toxicity between the two groups(P>0.05). There were no significant differences in incidence rates of non-hematology adverse reactions such as nausea and vomiting, oral infection, gastroenteritis, impaired liver function, upper respiratory tract infection, urinary system infection, skin infection, lung infection or sepsis between the two groups(P>0.05). The 3-year overall survival rate and progression-free survival rate in group A were 48.39% and 35.48%, which showed no significant differences when compared to 38.71% and 29.03% in group B(P>0.05). Conclusion The combination of idarubicin and cytarabine is effective in treatment of patients with AML, but there is significant myelosuppression during the treatment, and the incidence of adverse reactions is high. There are no significant differences in the 3-year overall survival rate and 3-year progression-- free survival rate between two groups.