RATIONALE: Erlotinib and celecoxib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for tumor cell growth. Celecoxib may slow the growth of a tumor by stopping blood flow to the tumor. Combining erlotinib with celecoxib may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving erlotinib together with celecoxib works in treating patients with recurrent stage IIIB or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the response rate of patients with stage IIIB or IV recurrent non-small cell lung cancer treated with erlotinib and celecoxib as second-line therapy.
• Determine the time to progression in patients treated with this regimen.
• Determine the survival duration of patients treated with this regimen.
• Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients.
• Correlate the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and cyclooxygenase-2 in tumor specimens with response, time to progression, and survival in patients treated with this regimen.

OUTLINE: Patients are assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups.

• Group 1: Patients receive oral erlotinib once daily and oral celecoxib twice daily.
• Group 2: Patients receive erlotinib as in group 1. Treatment in both groups continues in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients are followed every 2 months.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 40-80 patients will be accrued for this study within 10 months.

• Drug: celecoxib
• Drug: erlotinib hydrochloride

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer

  • Stage IIIB (malignant pleural effusion only) or IV
• Recurrent disease that has progressed after 1 or 2 prior chemotherapy regimens (platinum- or nonplatinum-based)

• At least 1 unidimensionally measurable lesion*

  • At least 20 mm by conventional techniques OR at least 10 mm by spiral CT scan NOTE: *The sole measurable lesion must not be in a previously irradiated field
• Must have tissue specimen available for assays
• No brain metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• ECOG 0-2 OR
• Karnofsky 60-100%

Life expectancy

• More than 3 months

Hematopoietic

• WBC at least 3,000/mm^3
• Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm^3
• Platelet count at least 100,000/mm^3

Hepatic

• Bilirubin normal
• AST/ALT no greater than 2.5 times upper normal limit (ULN)

Renal

• Creatinine normal OR
• Creatinine clearance at least 60 mL/min

Cardiovascular

• No symptomatic congestive heart failure
• No unstable angina pectoris
• No cardiac arrhythmia

Ophthalmic

• No prior abnormalities of the cornea (e.g., dry eye syndrome or Sjögren's syndrome)
• No congenital abnormality (e.g., Fuch's dystrophy)
• No abnormal slit-lamp examination using a vital dye (e.g., fluorescein or Bengal-Rose)
• No abnormal corneal sensitivity test (e.g., Schirmer test or similar tear production test)

Gastrointestinal

• Able to ingest oral medication
• No requirement for IV alimentation
• No history of peptic ulcer disease
• No active gastrointestinal ulcers

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• No other concurrent uncontrolled illness
• No ongoing or active infection
• No significant traumatic injury within the past 21 days
• No psychiatric illness or social situation that would preclude study compliance
• No prior allergic reactions to sulfonamides, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• No prior monoclonal antibodies to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)

Chemotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin) and recovered
• No concurrent chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

• No concurrent glucocorticoids

Radiotherapy

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered

Surgery

• More than 21 days since prior major surgery
• No prior surgery affecting absorption

Other

• No prior EGFR-specific tyrosine kinases
• No concurrent anticonvulsants
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• No concurrent antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive patients
• No concurrent antacids

• No concurrent administration of any of the following drugs:

  • Amiodarone
  • Chloramphenicol
  • Cimetidine
  • Fluvoxamine
  • Omeprazole
  • Zafirlukast
  • Clopidogrel
  • Cotrimoxazole
  • Disulfiram
  • Fluconazole
  • Fluoxetine
  • Fluvastatin
  • Fluvoxamine
  • Isoniazid
  • Itraconazole
  • Ketoconazole
  • Leflunomide
  • Metronidazole
  • Modafinil
  • Paroxetine
  • Phenylbutazone
  • Sertraline
  • Ticlopidine
  • Valproic acid