Cisplatin or Carboplatin, and Etoposide With or Without Sunitinib Malate in Treating Patients With Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

Exclusion Criteria

• •* Bone lesions
• •* Leptomeningeal disease
• •* Ascites
• •* Pleural/pericardial effusion
• •* Lymphangitis cutis/pulmonis
• •* Abdominal masses that are not confirmed and followed by imaging techniques
• •* Cystic lesions
• •No prior chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer (SCLC)
• •Radiation therapy must have been completed at least one week before initiation of protocol therapy
• •Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) performance status:
• •* Phase IB: 0-1
• •* Phase II: 0-2
• •No "currently active" second malignancy other than non-melanoma skin cancers
• •No history of brain metastases, spinal cord compression, or carcinomatous meningitis
• •No ongoing cardiac dysrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, or QTc interval \>= 500 msec; the use of agents with proarrhythmic potential (e.g., quinidine, procainamide, disopyramide, sotalol, probucol, pedridel, haloperidol, risperidone, indapamide, flecainide) is not recommended while on protocol therapy
• •Patients with class I New York Heart Association (NYHA) are eligible; patients with a history of class II NYHA are eligible, provided they meet the following criteria:
• •* Patients with a history of class II heart failure who are asymptomatic on treatment
• •* Patients with prior anthracycline exposure
• •* Patients who have received central thoracic radiation that included the heart in the radiotherapy port
• •Additionally, no myocardial infarction, severe/unstable angina, coronary/peripheral artery bypass graft or stenting, cerebrovascular accident including transient ischemic attack, or pulmonary embolism within the last year
• •Patients who require use of therapeutic doses of coumarin-derivative anticoagulants such as warfarin are excluded, although doses of up to 2 mg daily are permitted for prophylaxis of thrombosis; Note: Low molecular weight heparin is permitted provided the patient's prothrombin time (PT) international normalized ratio (INR) is =\< 1.5
• •No evidence of hemoptysis within 4 weeks prior to starting study treatment; patients with blood-tinged or blood streaked sputum will be permitted on study if the hemoptysis amounts to less than 5 mL of blood per episode and less than 10 mL of blood per 24-hour period in the best estimate of the investigator
• •None of the following within 28 days of treatment: abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, intra-abdominal abscess, serious or non-healing wound, ulcer, or bone fracture
• •The use of the following specific inhibitors and inducers of cytochrome p450, family 3, subfamily A, polypeptide 4 (CYP3A4) is not permitted; the following inhibitors of CYP3A4 are prohibited within 7 days before and during treatment with sunitinib: azole antifungals (ketoconazole, itraconazole), diltiazem, clarithromycin, erythromycin, verapamil, delavirdine, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors (indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, atazanavir, nelfinavir); the following inducers of CYP3A4 are prohibited within 12 days before beginning and during treatment with sunitinib: rifampin, rifabutin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, St. John's Wort, efavirenz, tipranavir
• •* Other inhibitors and inducers of CYP3A4 may be used if necessary, but there use is discouraged
• •Non-pregnant and non-nursing
• •Granulocytes \>= 1,500/ul
• •Platelets \>= 100,000/ul
• •Creatinine clearance \>= 70 ml/min
• •Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 mg/dl
• •Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =\< 2.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) (patients w/ liver metastases may have AST/ALT =\< 5 x ULN)
• •Partial thromboplastin time (PTT) =\< 1.5 x ULN