Erlotinib Hydrochloride With or Without Carboplatin and Paclitaxel in Treating Patients With Stage III-IV Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the distribution of progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with previously untreated advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung who are never or light former smokers treated with either OSI-774 (erlotinib) (erlotinib hydrochloride) alone (arm A) or in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (arm B). SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the radiographic response rate in patients with previously untreated advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung who are never or light former smokers treated with either OSI-774 (erlotinib) alone (arm A) or in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (arm B). II. To determine the frequency of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (K-ras) mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocations in patients with previously untreated advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung who are never or light former smokers. III. To determine the response rate and time to progression in patients with and without EGFR mutations treated with either OSI-774 (erlotinib) alone (arm A) or in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (arm B). IV. To determine the response rate and time to progression in patients with and without K-ras mutations treated with either OSI-774 (erlotinib) alone (arm A) or in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (arm B). V. To determine the median and overall survival of patients with previously untreated advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung who are never or light former smokers treated with either OSI-774 (erlotinib) alone (arm A) or in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (arm B). VI. To estimate the response rate, progression-free, and overall survival of patients with echinoderm microtubule associated protein like (EML)4-ALK translocation who received OSI-774 erlotinib alone (arm A) or in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (arm B). OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. ARM I: Patients receive erlotinib hydrochloride orally (PO) once daily (QD) on days 1-21. Cycles repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. ARM II: Patients receive erlotinib hydrochloride as in Arm I. Patients also receive paclitaxel intravenously (IV) over 1-3 hours and carboplatin IV over 15-30 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 6 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of 6 cycles of treatment, patients may continue to receive erlotinib hydrochloride alone as above. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed at least every 3 months for 1 year and then every 6 months for up to 2 years.