Cetuximab and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically or cytologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Stage IIIA or IIIB disease
Must be a candidate for curative radiotherapy
Not a candidate for other concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy
No surgical treatment available
No pleural effusion suspected or proven to be malignant
No stage IV disease by bone scan or positron emission tomography scan, CT scan or MRI of the brain, and CT scan of the chest within the past 30 days

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age * 18 and over

Performance status

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-2 (age ≥ 65 years)
ECOG 2 (age 18 to 64 years)

Life expectancy

* At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic

Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3
Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL

Hepatic

Bilirubin ≤ 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
AST ≤ 3 times ULN

Renal

Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN

Pulmonary

FEV_1 ≥ 1 L
No idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Other

Not pregnant or nursing
Negative pregnancy test
Fertile patients must use effective contraception
Magnesium normal
No uncontrolled infection
No other severe underlying disease that would preclude study entry
No other malignancy within the past 5 years except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer or noninvasive carcinoma
No major psychiatric illness that would preclude study participation

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

* Not specified

Chemotherapy

See Disease Characteristics
No prior chemotherapy for NSCLC

Endocrine therapy

* Not specified

Radiotherapy

No prior therapeutic radiotherapy to the chest
No concurrent intensity modulated radiotherapy

Other

* No prior epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors