Combination Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

Overview

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as irinotecan, cisplatin, and etoposide work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy works in treating patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Primary * To evaluate the efficacy of induction chemotherapy comprising irinotecan hydrochloride and cisplatin in patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer. * To evaluate the feasibility of radiotherapy administered concurrently with etoposide and cisplatin chemotherapy after induction chemotherapy in these patients. Secondary * To evaluate the toxicity of induction chemotherapy comprising irinotecan hydrochloride and cisplatin in these patients. * To assess whether this induction chemotherapy regimen will improve patient survival when compared with outcomes from the predecessor study, SWOG-9019. OUTLINE: Patients receive dose-dense induction chemotherapy comprising irinotecan hydrochloride IV and cisplatin IV on days 1 and 8. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 2 courses. After completion of induction chemotherapy, patients undergo radiotherapy five days a week for approximately 7 weeks. Patients receive concurrent chemotherapy comprising cisplatin IV on days 1, 8, 29, and 36 and etoposide IV on days 1-5 and 29-33. After completion of study therapy, patients are followed at 6 weeks.

Conditions