OBJECTIVES:
* Determine the response rate, duration of response, and survival in patients with bulky stage IIB or stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer treated with paclitaxel, carboplatin, and radiotherapy followed by surgical resection.
* Assess the toxicity of this regimen in this patient population.
OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.
Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 1 hour and carboplatin IV over 30 minutes weekly for 5 weeks. Patients also undergo concurrent radiotherapy daily 5 days a week for 5 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity. At approximately 4 weeks after completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients with stable or regressive disease undergo surgical resection. If disease is unresectable, patients receive an additional 2 weeks of radiotherapy.
Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 29-30 patients will be accrued for this study.
