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.

PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of bryostatin 1 plus paclitaxel in treating patients who have stage IIIB, stage IV, or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the overall, partial, and complete response rates in patients with stage IIIB-IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer treated with bryostatin 1 and paclitaxel. II. Determine the overall survival and time to tumor progression in patients treated with this regimen. III. Determine the T cell subset analysis and serum levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in these patients after receiving bryostatin 1 and correlate with clinical endpoints.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 1 hour on days 1, 8, and 15 and bryostatin 1 IV over 1 hour on days 2, 9, and 16. Treatment repeats every 4 weeks for a minimum of 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed for at least 2 years for survival.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 15-40 patients will be accrued for this study within 1 year.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically or cytologically proven stage IIIB, IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) Patients with stage IIIB disease must have pleural effusion Measurable disease

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 and over Performance status: ECOG 0-2 Karnofsky 50-100% Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: WBC greater than 3,000/mm3 Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm3 Platelet count greater than 100,000/mm3 Hepatic: Bilirubin normal SGOT less than 2 times normal Renal: Creatinine no greater than 1.5 mg/dL OR Creatinine clearance at least 50 mL/min Blood urea nitrogen less than 1.5 times normal Cardiovascular: No symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, or myocardial infarction within the past 6 months No heart block worse than first degree, bundle branch block, or ventricular or supraventricular arrhythmia by 12 lead electrocardiogram Other: Not pregnant or nursing Fertile patients must use effective contraception No uncontrolled concurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: No concurrent colony-stimulating factors Chemotherapy: No prior chemotherapy for NSCLC Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: Greater than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy Surgery: Not specified Other: No other concurrent investigational agents No concurrent antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in HIV positive patients