Arsenic Trioxide in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), meeting criteria for 1 of the following:
• * Locally advanced disease not amenable to radiotherapy or surgery
• * Metastatic disease
• Received at least 1 course of platinum-based (e.g., cisplatin or carboplatin) chemotherapy
• No uncontrolled central nervous system (CNS) metastases
• Ineligible for higher priority treatment protocols
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age
• 18 and over
• Performance status
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-1 OR
• Zubrod Scale 0-1 OR
• South West Oncology Group (SWOG) 0-1
• Life expectancy
• At least 12 weeks
• Hematopoietic
• Absolute neutrophil count greater than 1,500/mm\^3
• Platelet count greater than 100,000/mm\^3
• Hepatic
• Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times normal
• Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) no greater than 3 times normal
• Renal
• Creatinine no greater than 2.0 mg/dL
• Calcium no greater than 12 mg/dL
• Cardiovascular
• No myocardial infarction within the past 6 months
• No uncontrolled, clinically significant dysrhythmia
• Cardiac ejection fraction greater than 50%
• Other
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• Electrolytes (including magnesium) normal
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• No prior or ongoing peripheral neuropathy grade 2 or greater
• No other medical condition that would preclude study participation
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy
• No concurrent cytokine therapy
• Chemotherapy
• See Disease Characteristics
• No more than 2 prior chemotherapy regimens for NSCLC
• No other concurrent chemotherapy
• Endocrine therapy
• Not specified
• Radiotherapy
• More than 2 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No prior radiotherapy to an indicator lesion unless there is objective evidence of tumor growth in that lesion
• No concurrent radiotherapy
• * Concurrent palliative or emergent radiotherapy allowed
• Surgery
• More than 2 weeks since prior surgery
• Other
• At least 4 weeks since prior antineoplastic agents for non-malignant conditions (e.g., methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis)
• No concurrent antineoplastic agents for non-malignant conditions