Pazopanib Hydrochloride or a Placebo in Treating Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Who Have Received First-Line Chemotherapy

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically or cytologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) meeting the following criteria:

  * Any histology
  * Stage IIIB-IV disease
* Newly diagnosed or recurrent disease (after surgery or radical radiotherapy) proven on cytology or histology before induction chemotherapy

  * In case of adjuvant chemotherapy after previous surgery, time interval from start of previous treatment to induction chemotherapy for metastatic disease is 12 months
* May or may not have measurable disease as defined by RECIST criteria
* Must not have progressed during the 4 courses of initial chemotherapy

  * For patient presenting with measurable disease, there must be documented radiographic evidence of response (complete response, partial response, or stable disease) according to RECIST 1.1 criteria
  * For patients without measurable disease, there must be no symptomatic/clinical progression
* EGFR wild-type or unknown (known EGFR mutations are not eligible)
* Brain metastases allowed provided they are controlled and the patient must present with a performance status (PS) of 0-1 after the 4 courses of chemotherapy and at least 1 week off steroids
* No known endobronchial lesions and/or lesions infiltrating major pulmonary vessels that increase the risk of pulmonary hemorrhage, including any of the following:

  * Large protruding endobronchial lesions in the main or lobar bronchi

    * Endobronchial lesions in the segmented bronchi are allowed
  * Lesions extensively infiltrating the main or lobar bronchi

    * Minor infiltrations in the wall of the bronchi are allowed
  * Lesions infiltrating major pulmonary vessels (contiguous tumor and vessels)

    * Tumors touching but not infiltrating (abutting) the vessels are acceptable

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* WHO performance status (PS) 0-2

  * PS 2 capped at 15% of the study population
  * Elderly population (i.e., \> 70 years old) capped at 15% and must be PS 0-1
* Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks
* ANC ≥ 1.5 x 10\^9/L
* Platelet count ≥ 100 x 10\^9/L
* Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
* PT or INR ≤ 1.2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* PTT ≤ 1.2 times ULN
* Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times ULN
* AST/ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN
* Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL OR creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min
* Urine protein:creatinine ratio ≤ 1 OR ≤ 1.0 g of protein by 24-hour urine collection
* May only be randomized in this trial once
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception 2 weeks prior to, during, and for at least 1 month after completion of study therapy
* Corrected QT interval (QTc) ≤ 480 msec on normal 12-lead ECG

  * If QTc interval is \> 480 msec, then 2 additional ECGs should be obtained over a brief period of time (e.g., within 15-20 minutes) to confirm the abnormality and the average QTc interval will be determined from the 3 ECG tracings by manual evaluation and will be used to determine if the patient will be excluded from the study
* No history of any of the following cardiovascular conditions within the past 6 months:

  * Cardiac angioplasty or stenting myocardial infarction
  * Unstable angina
  * Coronary artery bypass graft surgery
  * Symptomatic peripheral vascular disease
* No NYHA class III-IV congestive heart failure (no class II, III, or IV for elderly patients)
* LVEF normal
* No other malignancy within the past 2 years except for non-small cell lung cancer
* No poorly controlled hypertension, defined as blood pressure (BP) \> 140/90 mm Hg

  * Initiation or adjustment of antihypertensive medications is permitted prior to study entry provided blood pressure is reassessed on two occasions that are separated by a minimum of 1 hour and the mean systolic BP/diastolic BP values must be ≤ 140/90 mm Hg
* No cerebrovascular accident (at any time in the past), transient ischemic attack, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), or pulmonary embolism within the past 6 months

  * Patients with recent DVT who have been treated with therapeutic anticoagulating agents and remained stable for at least 6 weeks are eligible
* No hemoptysis within the past 6 weeks (patients with a history of hemoptysis associated with metastatic disease must undergo a bronchoscopy to rule out endobronchial lesions and patients with an endobronchial lesion will be excluded from the study)
* No history of clinically significant gastrointestinal disorders, including any of the following:

  * Malabsorption syndrome
  * Major resection of the stomach or small bowel that could affect the absorption of the study drug
  * Active peptic ulcer disease
  * Known intraluminal metastatic lesions with risk of bleeding
  * Inflammatory bowel disease
  * Ulcerative colitis
  * Other gastrointestinal conditions with increased risk of perforation
* No history of abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, or intra-abdominal abscess within the past 28 days
* No evidence of active bleeding or bleeding diathesis
* No trauma within the past 28 days
* No nonhealing wound, fracture, or ulcer
* No known immediate or delayed hypersensitivity reaction or idiosyncrasy to drugs chemically related to pazopanib hydrochloride
* No psychological, familial, sociological, or geographical condition potentially hampering compliance with the study protocol and follow-up schedule

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* See Disease Characteristics
* No ongoing toxicity from prior anticancer therapy that is \> grade 1 (except alopecia) and/or that is progressing in severity
* At least 6 months since prior amiodarone
* At least 14 days since prior CYP3A4 substrates
* At least 2 weeks since prior palliative radiotherapy
* No major surgery within the past 28 days
* No prior multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), bevacizumab, or cetuximab (as part of induction therapy)
* Prior radical radiotherapy allowed provided it was at least 12 months from start of induction chemotherapy for metastatic disease
* Concurrent anticoagulant therapy allowed provided the patient's PT, INR, or PTT is stable and within the recommended range for the desired level of anticoagulation