Carboplatin, Gemcitabine, and Thalidomide in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Stage II or III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Determine the complete and partial response rates in patients with stage II or IIIA non-small cell lung cancer treated with neoadjuvant carboplatin, gemcitabine hydrochloride, and thalidomide. Secondary * Determine, preliminarily, the mechanism of action and activity of thalidomide against lung cancer. * Determine the 1-year and 2-year survival of patients treated with this regimen. * Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients. * Determine the operative mortality of patients treated with this regimen. OUTLINE: This is a pilot study. Patients receive carboplatin intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes on day 1, gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8, and oral thalidomide once daily on days 1-21. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 3 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Within 2-6 weeks after the completion of chemotherapy, patients with resectable tumors undergo surgical resection. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years.