Vinorelbine + Cisplatin or No Further Therapy in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer That Has Been Surgically Removed

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the duration of overall and disease-free survival in patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) randomized to adjuvant chemotherapy with vinorelbine and cisplatin versus observation only. II. Confirm the prognostic significance of ras mutations when present in the primary tumor. III. Provide a comprehensive tumor bank linked to a clinical database for the further study of molecular markers in resected NSCLC. IV. Measure and compare the health-related quality of life of patients on both treatment arms. V. Evaluate any toxicity related to this treatment regimen. OUTLINE: This is a randomized study. Patients are stratified according to participating institution, nodal status (N0 vs N1), and ras mutation status of primary tumor (absent vs present vs unknown). Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms. Arm I: Patients are evaluated at 3 and 6 months after randomization. Arm II: Patients receive vinorelbine IV over 6-10 minutes weekly for 16 weeks. Patients also receive cisplatin IV on days 1 and 8 every 4 weeks for a total of 4 courses. Treatment continues in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Quality of life is assessed at Canadian centers. Quality of life assessments are optional for ECOG and SWOG centers. Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years and then every 6 months thereafter. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 450 patients will be accrued for this study within 6.75 years.