Active clinical trials for "Lung Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Chemoprevention is the use of certain substances to keep cancer from forming, growing, or coming back. The use of green tea or polyphenon E may prevent cancer from forming in former smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well green tea or polyphenon E work in preventing lung cancer in former smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

RATIONALE: Gefitinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Gefitinib may make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Giving gefitinib together with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of radiation therapy when given together with gefitinib and to see how well they work in treating patients with inoperable stage I or stage II non-small cell lung cancer.

Studies in animals suggest that inhaled budesonide may prevent the occurrence of lung cancer. We conducted a clinical trial to determine the effects of inhaled budesonide in smokers who had precancerous lesions in the breathing tubes (i.e. bronchial dysplasia.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women. Although overall survival remains poor, early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is potentially curable. Improved staging has led to stage-specific therapies such that patients with early stage NSCLC are potential candidates for surgical resection, and those with more advanced disease are spared the morbidity and risk of mortality from thoracotomy and pulmonary resection. Despite contemporary staging techniques, 25-50% of patients who appear to have limited disease amenable to surgical resection go on to die from metastatic lung cancer. If occult micro-metastatic disease that becomes evident later could be detected reliably during the pre-operative assessment, patients harboring such disease could be spared a non-curative thoracotomy. PET imaging has the potential to detect mediastinal and extrathoracic metastatic disease not detected by conventional imaging modalities. This prospective, multicenter trial will enroll patients with biopsy-proven clinical stage I-IIIA NSCLC who are considered to be candidates for surgical resection with curative intent. Preoperatively, patients will be randomized to conventional staging for metastatic disease (CT liver/adrenals, total body bone scan, and CT with contrast or MRI with gadolinium of the brain) versus whole body PET or PET-CT and brain CT or MRI with contrast/gadolinium.

RATIONALE: Knowing the level of oxygen in tumor tissue may help predict the effectiveness of anticancer therapy. EF5 is a drug used in the measurement of oxygen in tumor tissue. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of EF5 in assessing tumor response to anticancer therapy in patients who have stage I, stage II, or stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

RATIONALE: Doctors can diagnose lung cancer by collecting mucus coughed up from the lungs and examining it under a microscope to look for cancer cells. Breathing in INS316 may make it easier for patients to cough up mucus. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to study the effectiveness of INS316 in helping to diagnose lung cancer.

At this time, computed tomography (CT) is the standard tool used at this institution for the staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). For most patients, treatment planning for NSCLC is performed with the patient breathing freely during CT scanning. However, recent research has demonstrated that, by holding one's breath briefly, the NSCLC tumor mass can be held motionless. As a result, the tissue to be treated is better pinpointed and the area treated is significantly decreased through breath-hold planning. This allows for a higher dose of radiation to be given to the cancer. PET scanning is a promising newer imaging modality which has shown to be useful in staging NSCLC. This study hypothesizes that breath-held PET scanning and breath held-CT scanning will allow for more stringent radiotherapy plans, minimizing normal tissue toxicity, as well as potentially increasing the dose deliverable to the primary tumor.

RATIONALE: Chemoprevention therapy uses certain drugs to try to prevent the development or recurrence of cancer. Celecoxib may be effective in preventing the development or recurrence of lung cancer in former heavy smokers. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to study the effectiveness of celecoxib in preventing the development or recurrence of lung cancer in former heavy smokers who are at risk of developing cancer.

RATIONALE: Chemoprevention therapy is the use of certain drugs to try to prevent the development or recurrence of cancer. The use of zileuton may be an effective way to prevent lung cancer in patients who have bronchial dysplasia. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to study the effectiveness of zileuton in preventing lung cancer in patients who have bronchial dysplasia.

RATIONALE: Prognostic testing for early signs of metastases may help doctors detect metastases early and plan more effective treatment. PURPOSE: Phase III trial to study the relationship between early signs of metastases and survival in patients who have stage I, stage II, or stage III non-small cell lung cancer that can be removed by surgery.