Papaverine in Combination With Chemoradiation for the Treatment of Stage II-III Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

All prior treatment-related toxicities must be Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) (version 5.0) =\< grade 1 (except alopecia) at the time of enrollment

Absolute neutrophil count \>=1.5 x 10\^9/L

Hemoglobin \>= 9 g/dL

Platelets \>= 100 x 10\^9/L

Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN)

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) =\< 2.5 x ULN

Creatinine \< 1.5 mg/dL or calculated creatinine clearance\* \>= 50 mL/min or 24-hour urine creatinine clearance \>= 50 mL/min

* Calculated by the Cockcroft-Gault formula •\>= 18 years old

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), histologically and/or cytologically proven

Clinical American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage II-III NSCLC (T1-4N0-3M0) and select patients with stage IV oligometastatic disease.

* For patients with oligometastatic disease (up to 5 total sites of disease) for whom definitive CRT or RT to the primary and regional lymph nodes is recommended by the multidisciplinary team, each individual metastatic tumor would be considered an additional site of disease with the exception of brain metastases. Up to 10 brain metastases would be considered as 1 site.

* Patients with oligometastatic disease will be allowed to receive adjuvant systemic therapy at the discretion of the medical oncologist and additional local therapy to metastatic sites at the discretion of the multidisciplinary team

Patients must be considered unresectable or medically-inoperable if stage II-III NSCLC

* Patients with a local or regional recurrence following surgical resection for whom definitive CRT or RT to disease in the chest is recommended by the multidisciplinary team will be considered eligible

Patients must have fludeoxyglucose F-18 (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) scan (or CT chest/abdomen/pelvis with IV contrast), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain with IV contrast (preferred) or CT scan of the brain with contrast. Non-contrast MRI scans of the chest/abdomen/pelvis or brain are permitted for workup if patient has allergy to CT contrast or renal insufficiency

Patients must have vital signs, history/physical examination, laboratory studies (complete blood count \[CBCP\] with differential, chemistries including liver function tests, creatinine clearance (CrCl) assessment; pregnancy test if needed within 14 days of registration)

Patient has an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2

No history of complete atrioventricular block, hepatic dysfunction (e.g. cirrhosis), glaucoma, or priapism

Patients must be a minimum of 3 weeks from thoracotomy (if performed) and well-healed before starting treatment

Ability to provide written informed consent obtained prior to participation in the study and any related procedures being performed

Women of child-bearing potential (WOCBP) must have a negative pregnancy test within 14 days of registration. Urine human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is an acceptable pregnancy assessment

Nursing women may participate only if nursing is discontinued, due to the possibility of harm to nursing infants from the treatment regimen

Women/men of reproductive potential must be counselled on contraception/ abstinence while receiving the study treatment

* Women of childbearing potential are required to use an effective method of contraception from the time of negative serum pregnancy test, throughout the study duration, and until 6 months after the last dose of radiation. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately

* Men treated or enrolled on this protocol must also agree to use adequate contraception prior to the study, for the duration of study participation, and for 6 months after completion of study drug administration

For patients planning to undergo CRT, patient is suitable to receive standard chemotherapy per treating medical oncologist with radiation during study treatment

Patients must consent to participate in the main part of this study and be enrolled into the expansion cohort, or consent to participate in the main part of this study and also consent to participate in the optional MRI Imaging study

What this study is about