Pazopanib Hydrochloride or a Placebo in Treating Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Who Have Received First-Line Chemotherapy

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically or cytologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) meeting the following criteria: * Any histology * Stage IIIB-IV disease * Newly diagnosed or recurrent disease (after surgery or radical radiotherapy) proven on cytology or histology before induction chemotherapy * In case of adjuvant chemotherapy after previous surgery, time interval from start of previous treatment to induction chemotherapy for metastatic disease is 12 months * May or may not have measurable disease as defined by RECIST criteria * Must not have progressed during the 4 courses of initial chemotherapy * For patient presenting with measurable disease, there must be documented radiographic evidence of response (complete response, partial response, or stable disease) according to RECIST 1.1 criteria * For patients without measurable disease, there must be no symptomatic/clinical progression * EGFR wild-type or unknown (known EGFR mutations are not eligible) * Brain metastases allowed provided they are controlled and the patient must present with a performance status (PS) of 0-1 after the 4 courses of chemotherapy and at least 1 week off steroids * No known endobronchial lesions and/or lesions infiltrating major pulmonary vessels that increase the risk of pulmonary hemorrhage, including any of the following: * Large protruding endobronchial lesions in the main or lobar bronchi * Endobronchial lesions in the segmented bronchi are allowed * Lesions extensively infiltrating the main or lobar bronchi * Minor infiltrations in the wall of the bronchi are allowed * Lesions infiltrating major pulmonary vessels (contiguous tumor and vessels) * Tumors touching but not infiltrating (abutting) the vessels are acceptable PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * WHO performance status (PS) 0-2 * PS 2 capped at 15% of the study population * Elderly population (i.e., \> 70 years old) capped at 15% and must be PS 0-1 * Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks * ANC ≥ 1.5 x 10\^9/L * Platelet count ≥ 100 x 10\^9/L * Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL * PT or INR ≤ 1.2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * PTT ≤ 1.2 times ULN * Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times ULN * AST/ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN * Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL OR creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min * Urine protein:creatinine ratio ≤ 1 OR ≤ 1.0 g of protein by 24-hour urine collection * May only be randomized in this trial once * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile patients must use effective contraception 2 weeks prior to, during, and for at least 1 month after completion of study therapy * Corrected QT interval (QTc) ≤ 480 msec on normal 12-lead ECG * If QTc interval is \> 480 msec, then 2 additional ECGs should be obtained over a brief period of time (e.g., within 15-20 minutes) to confirm the abnormality and the average QTc interval will be determined from the 3 ECG tracings by manual evaluation and will be used to determine if the patient will be excluded from the study * No history of any of the following cardiovascular conditions within the past 6 months: * Cardiac angioplasty or stenting myocardial infarction * Unstable angina * Coronary artery bypass graft surgery * Symptomatic peripheral vascular disease * No NYHA class III-IV congestive heart failure (no class II, III, or IV for elderly patients) * LVEF normal * No other malignancy within the past 2 years except for non-small cell lung cancer * No poorly controlled hypertension, defined as blood pressure (BP) \> 140/90 mm Hg * Initiation or adjustment of antihypertensive medications is permitted prior to study entry provided blood pressure is reassessed on two occasions that are separated by a minimum of 1 hour and the mean systolic BP/diastolic BP values must be ≤ 140/90 mm Hg * No cerebrovascular accident (at any time in the past), transient ischemic attack, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), or pulmonary embolism within the past 6 months * Patients with recent DVT who have been treated with therapeutic anticoagulating agents and remained stable for at least 6 weeks are eligible * No hemoptysis within the past 6 weeks (patients with a history of hemoptysis associated with metastatic disease must undergo a bronchoscopy to rule out endobronchial lesions and patients with an endobronchial lesion will be excluded from the study) * No history of clinically significant gastrointestinal disorders, including any of the following: * Malabsorption syndrome * Major resection of the stomach or small bowel that could affect the absorption of the study drug * Active peptic ulcer disease * Known intraluminal metastatic lesions with risk of bleeding * Inflammatory bowel disease * Ulcerative colitis * Other gastrointestinal conditions with increased risk of perforation * No history of abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, or intra-abdominal abscess within the past 28 days * No evidence of active bleeding or bleeding diathesis * No trauma within the past 28 days * No nonhealing wound, fracture, or ulcer * No known immediate or delayed hypersensitivity reaction or idiosyncrasy to drugs chemically related to pazopanib hydrochloride * No psychological, familial, sociological, or geographical condition potentially hampering compliance with the study protocol and follow-up schedule PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics * No ongoing toxicity from prior anticancer therapy that is \> grade 1 (except alopecia) and/or that is progressing in severity * At least 6 months since prior amiodarone * At least 14 days since prior CYP3A4 substrates * At least 2 weeks since prior palliative radiotherapy * No major surgery within the past 28 days * No prior multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), bevacizumab, or cetuximab (as part of induction therapy) * Prior radical radiotherapy allowed provided it was at least 12 months from start of induction chemotherapy for metastatic disease * Concurrent anticoagulant therapy allowed provided the patient's PT, INR, or PTT is stable and within the recommended range for the desired level of anticoagulation