Carboplatin, Paclitaxel, and Radiation Therapy With or Without Thalidomide in Patients With Stage III Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the survival and time to progression of patients with stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer when treated with carboplatin, paclitaxel, and chemoradiotherapy with or without thalidomide. II. Evaluate the toxicity of the thalidomide-containing regimen and compare response rates of the two groups. III. Determine whether the inactivation of p16, Death-associated protein kinase (DAP-kinase), O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene, or tissue-inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP-3) genes can be used to predict survival in these patients treated with this regimen. IV. Determine whether the detection of a methylation biomarker in serum can be used to predict survival in these patients treated with this regimen. OUTLINE: This is a randomized study. Patients are stratified according to disease histology (squamous vs nonsquamous), performance status (0 vs 1), disease stage (IIIA vs IIIB), and time of randomization (before addition of chemoradiotherapy vs after). Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms. ARM A: Patients receive paclitaxel intravenously (IV) over 3 hours immediately followed by carboplatin IV over 15-30 minutes on days 1 and 22. Treatment continues every 22 days in the absence of unacceptable toxicity or disease progression. ARM B: Patients receive paclitaxel and carboplatin as in arm A. Patients also receive oral thalidomide and oral low-dose aspirin daily beginning on day 1 for up to 24 months in the absence of disease progression. Beginning between days 43-50, patients in both arms with stable or responding disease receive chemoradiotherapy comprising paclitaxel IV over 1 hour and carboplatin IV over 15-30 minutes once weekly for 6 weeks and radiotherapy (RT) 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Arm B patients continue oral thalidomide. Patients are followed every 2 months for 2 years and then every 6 months for 3 years.