Carboplatin and Paclitaxel Albumin-Stabilized Nanoparticle Formulation Followed by Radiation Therapy and Erlotinib in Treating Patients With Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

Must have measurable disease, defined as ≥ 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion ≥ 20 mm by conventional techniques or ≥ 10 mm by spiral CT scan

* Nonmeasurable lesions include the following:

* Bone lesions

* Leptomeningeal disease

* Ascites

* Pleural or pericardial effusion

* Abdominal masses that are not confirmed and followed by imaging techniques

* Cystic lesions

* Tumor lesions situated in a previously irradiated area

Patients must be considered unresectable or inoperable AND be deemed candidates for combined modality therapy by a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist

Considered to be poor-risk with NCI CTC performance status (PS) 2 OR PS 0-1 and ≥ 10% weight loss within the past 3 months

Patients with tumors adjacent to a vertebral body are eligible, provided all gross disease can be encompassed within the radiation boost field in accordance with the homogeneity criteria

Pleural effusions meeting the following criteria allowed:

* Effusion is transudate, cytologically negative, and non-bloody

* Effusion can be seen on the chest CT scan but not on the chest x-ray AND is too small to tap

* Effusion appears only after a thoracotomy or other invasive thoracic procedure was attempted

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

See Disease Characteristics

Granulocytes ≥ 1,500/μL

Platelet count ≥ 100,000/μL

Creatinine ≤ 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN)

AST \< 2 x ULN

Bilirubin ≤ ULN

Not pregnant or nursing

Negative pregnancy test

Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

No prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy for NSCLC

At least 2 weeks since formal exploratory thoracotomy

No concurrent administration of sucralfate suspension and erlotinib hydrochloride

No concurrent intensity-modulated radiotherapy

No concurrent hormones or other chemotherapeutic agents except steroids given for adrenal failure, hormones administered for non-disease-related conditions (e.g., insulin for diabetes), and intermittent use of dexamethasone as an antiemetic

No concurrent palliative radiotherapy

What this study is about