Erlotinib, Paclitaxel, and Carboplatin in Treating Patients With Stage III, Stage IV, or Recurrent Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Overview

RATIONALE: Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving erlotinib together with paclitaxel and carboplatin may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying two different doses of erlotinib when given together with paclitaxel and carboplatin to compare how well they work in treating patients with stage III, stage IV, or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES: * Compare the major objective response (complete and partial response) rates in patients with stage IIIB or IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer treated with high- versus low-dose erlotinib hydrochloride combined with paclitaxel and carboplatin. * Compare the duration of response, time to progression, and survival of patients treated with these regimens. * Characterize and compare the toxicities of these regimens. * Determine the recommended phase III dose of erlotinib hydrochloride. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, open-label, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to gender. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive oral high-dose erlotinib hydrochloride on days 1 and 2. Patients also receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 3. * Arm II: Patients receive oral low-dose erlotinib hydrochloride, paclitaxel, and carboplatin as in arm I. In both arms, treatment repeats every 21 days for 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed periodically. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 58 patients will be accrued for this study.