Radiation in Stage I or Stage II Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well radiation therapy works in treating patients with stage I or stage II non-small cell lung cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Determine the local tumor control rate at 2 years after accelerated hypofractionated 3-dimensional, conformal radiotherapy in patients with inoperable T1-3 N0 M0 non-small cell lung cancer. Secondary * Determine the toxicities of this regimen in these patients. * Determine the rates of regional and distant disease recurrence in these patients. * Determine the progression-free and overall survival of patients treated with this regimen. * Determine the changes in pulmonary function after treatment in these patients. * Assess the quality of life of patients after treatment. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, prospective study. Patients undergo accelerated hypofractionated conformal radiotherapy 5 days a week for up to 3 weeks (15 doses) in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Quality of life is assessed at baseline, at week 3 of radiotherapy, at 1 month after completion of radiotherapy, and then every 4 months for 1 year. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed periodically for 5 years. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 80 patients will be accrued for this study.