Gemcitabine and Imatinib Mesylate in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically confirmed non-small cell cancer

  * Recurrent disease after adjuvant treatment OR progressive disease after 1 prior treatment for recurrent or metastatic disease
* Received at least 1 prior chemotherapy regimen and meets the following criteria:

  * No more than 1 prior chemotherapeutic regimen in the recurrent or metastatic setting
  * Patients who received prior chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting are eligible when 1 of the following criteria is met:

    * In first recurrence (after 1 prior regimen)
    * Received first-line chemotherapy in the recurrent setting after 2 prior regimens
* Measurable disease

  * Must have ≥ 1 measurable target lesion outside prior radiotherapy field OR radiologic confirmation of disease progression within a prior radiotherapy field
* No known or untreated brain metastases or carcinomatous meningitis

  * Clinically stable, treated brain metastases allowed provided it has been \> 7 days since prior steroids

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* ECOG performance status 0-1
* Life expectancy ≥ 3 months
* Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm³
* Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
* Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN
* Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN OR creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after completion of study treatment
* Able to swallow oral medication
* No concurrent medical condition that would preclude study compliance
* No history of allergic reaction to compounds of similar chemical or biological composition to gemcitabine hydrochloride or imatinib mesylate
* No uncontrolled illness that would preclude study compliance, including any of the following:

  * Symptomatic congestive heart failure
  * Unstable angina pectoris
  * Cardiac arrhythmia requiring therapy
  * Myocardial infarction within the past 6 months
  * Active infection
* No New York Heart Association class III-IV congestive heart failure
* No chronic liver disease (i.e., chronic active hepatitis, cirrhosis)
* No HIV positivity
* No other primary malignancies within the past 5 years, except carcinoma in situ of the cervix or nonmelanoma skin cancer

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* See Disease Characteristics
* At least 3 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas)
* At least 3 weeks since prior anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy and recovered
* At least 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
* More than 28 days since prior and no other concurrent investigational or commercial agents
* More than 2 weeks since prior major surgery
* No prior gemcitabine hydrochloride or imatinib mesylate for metastatic disease
* No prior tyrosine kinase inhibitor, except for gefitinib or erlotinib hydrochloride
* No concurrent therapeutic warfarin (prophylactic warfarin therapy ≤ 1 mg daily allowed)
* No other concurrent medications that would preclude study compliance
* No concurrent chronic systemic corticosteroids