Radiation Therapy Combined With Paclitaxel and Carboplatin in Treating Patients With Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES: * Determine the maximum tolerated dose of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy when administered concurrently with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with inoperable stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. (Phase I) (Closed to accrual as of 01/13/04.) * Determine the 12-month survival rate in patients treated with this regimen. (Phase II) (Closed to accrual as of 11/27/07.) * Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients. * Determine the partial organ tolerance doses for the lung and esophagus in patients treated with this regimen. * Determine the complete response rate in patients treated with this regimen. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, dose-escalation study of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. * Phase I (closed to accrual as of 01/13/04): Patients undergo 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy once daily five days a week for 7-8 weeks. Patients also receive concurrent chemotherapy comprising paclitaxel IV over 1 hour followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, and 43. Cohorts of 7-9 patients receive de-escalating doses of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined when given in combination with chemotherapy. The MTD is defined as the highest dose at which no more than 1 patient experiences dose-limiting toxicity. * Phase II: Additional patients are accrued and treated as above at the MTD. At least 3 weeks after completing radiotherapy, patients may receive additional chemotherapy comprising paclitaxel IV over 3 hours once and carboplatin IV over 30 minutes once. Treatment with paclitaxel and carboplatin may repeat every 3 weeks for up to 2 courses. Patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year, every 4 months for 1 year, every 6 months for 3-5 years, and then annually thereafter. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A maximum of 73 patients (up to 27 for phase I \[closed to accrual as of 10/28/04\] and 46 for phase II) will be accrued for this study within 1-1.5 years.