Cetuximab and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically or cytologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
• * Stage IIIA or IIIB disease
• Must be a candidate for curative radiotherapy
• Not a candidate for other concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy
• No surgical treatment available
• No pleural effusion suspected or proven to be malignant
• No stage IV disease by bone scan or positron emission tomography scan, CT scan or MRI of the brain, and CT scan of the chest within the past 30 days
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age \* 18 and over
• Performance status
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-2 (age ≥ 65 years)
• ECOG 2 (age 18 to 64 years)
• Life expectancy
• \* At least 12 weeks
• Hematopoietic
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm\^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm\^3
• Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
• Hepatic
• Bilirubin ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• AST ≤ 3 times ULN
• Renal
• Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN
• Pulmonary
• FEV\_1 ≥ 1 L
• No idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
• Other
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• Magnesium normal
• No uncontrolled infection
• No other severe underlying disease that would preclude study entry
• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer or noninvasive carcinoma
• No major psychiatric illness that would preclude study participation
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy
• \* Not specified
• Chemotherapy
• See Disease Characteristics
• No prior chemotherapy for NSCLC
• Endocrine therapy
• \* Not specified
• Radiotherapy
• No prior therapeutic radiotherapy to the chest
• No concurrent intensity modulated radiotherapy
• Other
• \* No prior epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors