Carboplatin Treatment Options in Iowa

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known if surgery plus combination chemotherapy is more effective than surgery alone for non-small cell lung cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of surgery with or without combination chemotherapy in treating patients who have non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Monoclonal antibodies such as cetuximab can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug with a monoclonal antibody may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether cetuximab is more effective when given at the same time as chemotherapy or following chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well giving cetuximab at the same time as combination chemotherapy works compared to giving cetuximab after combination chemotherapy in treating patients with stage IIIB or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to compare combination treatment of gemcitabine + oxaliplatin (GEMOX) with carboplatin + paclitaxel (CP) to determine if there is a difference in response and safety between the two drug combinations for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Read Less