MK2206 and Erlotinib Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Who Have Progressed After Previous Response to Erlotinib Hydrochloride Therapy

Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer of any histologic subtype

* NOTE: epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutational status (either wild-type or positive for an activating mutation) will be determined for all patients on this study; commercial assays for EGFR mutation status are allowed; knowledge of EGFR mutational status is not required at the time of protocol entry but should be determined or known before the end of course 2; however, if one of the strata is temporarily closed to accrual, knowledge of EGFR mutational status will be required prior to protocol entry

Patients may have measurable or non-measurable disease; x-rays and/or scans for disease assessment of measurable disease must have been completed within 28 days prior to registration

Patients must have radiologic or clinical progressive disease following prior benefit (response or stable disease) to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy (e.g., erlotinib) administered either as a single agent or in combination with other agents for at least 12 weeks prior to progression; Note: patients may have received intervening systemic therapy after EGFR-TKI progression); additionally, patients must have documentation of radiographic progression within the preceding three months prior to study entry

Prior cytotoxic chemotherapy is allowed; any number of prior chemotherapy regimens is also allowed; prior cetuximab therapy is also allowed; NOTE: a patient with an EGFR activating mutation who has received EGFR-TKI therapy as first line therapy, but has not received platinum-based chemotherapy, would be considered eligible for this trial

Karnofsky performance status \>= 60%

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>= 1,500/mcL

Platelet count \>= 100,000/mcL

Total bilirubin =\< upper institutional normal limits

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal

Creatinine =\< upper institutional normal limits OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal

Prior to the first patient registration, this study must be institutional review board approved; a copy of the institutional review board (IRB) approval for each site involved must be given to the Data Coordinating Center at City of Hope

Women of childbearing potential and men must use two forms of contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, the patient should inform the treating physician immediately

Patients on coumadin should have their international normalized ratio (INR) monitored at least once per week or more frequently depending on the investigator's judgment; there have been some case reports of increased INR when coumadin is co-administered with erlotinib

Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Patients should have tumor tissue (either fresh frozen tumor tissue or paraffin-embedded tumor tissue) available for retrieval; if an endobronchial lesion is present or suspected, bronchoscopy is recommended as a source of fresh tissue; tissue blocks or unstained slides from the time of original diagnosis are acceptable if repeat biopsy is not feasible

What this study is about