RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. It is not yet known whether gemcitabine and erlotinib are more effective when given alone or together in treating non-small cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying gemcitabine and erlotinib to compare how well they work when given alone or together as first-line therapy in treating older patients with stage IIIB or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Compare the progression-free survival rate of older patients with stage IIIB or IV non-small cell lung cancer treated with gemcitabine hydrochloride vs erlotinib hydrochloride vs gemcitabine hydrochloride and erlotinib hydrochloride as first-line therapy.

Secondary

• Determine the response rate in patients receiving these regimens.
• Determine the overall survival rate in patients receiving these regimens.
• Determine the toxicity profile of these regimens in these patients.
• Determine the quality of life of patients receiving these regimens.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, open-label, controlled, parallel group, multicenter study. Patients are stratified by gender, smoking status (never or light vs current or former), and ECOG performance status (0-1 vs 2). Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms.

• Arm I: Patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV on days 1 and 8. Patients with progressive disease may cross over to arm II.
• Arm II: Patients receive oral erlotinib hydrochloride daily on days 1-21.
• Arm III: Patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride as in arm I and erlotinib hydrochloride as in arm II.

In all arms, treatment repeats every 21 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study therapy, patients are followed every 2 months for 3 years.

Inclusion Criteria Histologic or cytologic diagnosis of stage NSCLC ECOG Performance Status (PS) 0-2 Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) ≥ 1.5 Platelets ≥ 100,000 Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dl Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 upper limit of institutional normal (ULN) Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 4 x ULN Total Bilirubin below or equal to upper institutional normal limits Serum Creatinine ≤ 1.5 x ULN Patients may have received 1 prior treatment in the adjuvant setting, but time since prior chemotherapy must be ≥1 year. Although the protocol specifically says adjuvant therapy, we believe neoadjuvant is similar and patients who have received neo-adjuvant (pre-operative) rather than classic adjuvant (post-operative) therapy are similar and should not be distinguished. Therefore, patients may have received

1 prior treatment in the neo-adjuvant setting as well. Treated brain metastases are eligible provided the patient is asymptomatic and meets the above criteria, including PS. Measurable disease by RECIST criteria Ability to give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria Patients with a history of severe hypersensitivity to gemcitabine. Incompletely healed from previous oncologic or other major surgery. Pregnancy or breast feeding (women of childbearing potential are not expected to be enrolled in this study given minimum age) Patients with severe co-morbid illness. Patients unable to participate in the QOL assessments.

There is no plan to share any individual participant data.