This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of photodynamic therapy during surgery in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer that can be removed by surgery. Photodynamic therapy uses a drug, such as temoporfin, that becomes active when it is exposed to a certain kind of light. When the drug is active, cancer cells are killed. This may be a better way to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To demonstrate that intraoperative adjuvant regional photodynamic therapy with low-dose temoporfin is safe.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Initial assessment of efficacy (i.e., 2-year disease free survival). II. To investigate the relationship between signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) levels, measured light dose and the clinical outcome.

III. Correlate the serum concentrations of vitamin D metabolites (25-hydroxyvitarnin D3 and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) with the presence of lymph node (LN) metastasis at the time of surgical resection.

IV. To measure temoporfin uptake in malignant and normal tissue.

OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study of photodynamic therapy with temoporfin.

Patients receive temoporfin intravenously (IV) over no less than 6 minutes and then undergo standard surgical resection with intraoperative photodynamic therapy (PDT).

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 6 months for 2 years.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
• Patients with resectable primary NSCLC who are undergoing surgery to resect T3 to T4 lesions OR any patients with clinical NI or N2 disease regardless of T-stage
• Subjects must have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scale of 0-2
• Subjects of child-bearing potential must agree to use adequate contraceptive methods (e.g., hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for 6 months after surgery; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
• The subject or legal representative must understand the investigational nature of this study and sign an Independent Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board approved written informed consent prior to receiving any study related procedure
• Must consent to participate in study I 03103: Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Data Bank and Biorepository (DBBR)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
• Patients with known brain metastases should be excluded from this clinical trial
• Patients with porphyria, or with known hypersensitivity to porphyrins or porphyrin-like compounds
• White blood cell (WBC) < 4,000
• Platelet count < 100,000
• Total serum bilirubin > 2 mg/dL
• Serum creatinine > 2 mg/dL
• Alkaline phosphatase (hepatic) or serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) > 3 times the upper normal limit
• Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• Pregnant or nursing female subjects
• Unwilling or unable to follow protocol requirements
• Any condition which in the Investigator's opinion deems the subject an unsuitable candidate to receive study drug
• Received an investigational agent within 30 days prior to enrollment