Bendamustine as Second-Line Therapy in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Small Cell Lung Cancer

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Histologically or cytologically confirmed small cell lung cancer
• Relapsed or refractory disease after 1-2 prior chemotherapy regimens
• Measurable disease
• ECOG - Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-2
• ANC ≥ 1,500/mm³: ANC = Absolute neutrophil count
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
• Bilirubin normal
• AST/ALT ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (≤ 5 times ULN in patients with hepatic metastases; AST/ALT = alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
• Creatinine clearance \> 40 mL/min
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception before, during, and for ≥ 3 months after completion of study therapy
• No known hypersensitivity to bendamustine
• No other malignancy for which the patient has been treated within the past year except for nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• No cardiac disease, including any of the following:
• * Unstable angina pectoris
• * Life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia
• * Symptomatic congestive heart failure
• No uncontrolled infection
• No other concurrent chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or anti-tumor hormonal therapy