A Prospective, Randomized, Open-label, Phase III Trial of Chemotherapy With Carboplatin And Paclitaxel, Versus Carboplatin And Paclitaxel In Combination With ISIS-3521, An Antisense Inhibitor Of Protein Kinase C Alpha In Patients With Advanced, Previously Untreated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the overall survival of patients with stage IIIB or IV non-small cell lung cancer treated with carboplatin and paclitaxel with vs without ISIS 3521. II. Compare the time to tumor progression and time to treatment failure in patients treated with these regimens. III. Compare the overall (complete plus partial) response rate in patients with measurable disease treated with these regimens. IV. Compare the percentage of patients with non-measurable, evaluable disease who have a complete response after treatment with these regimens. V. Compare the duration of response in patients with a complete or partial response after treatment with these regimens. VI. Compare the safety of these regimens in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, open-label, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to tumor stage (IIIB vs IV) and prior brain metastases (yes vs no). Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms. Arm I: Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours and carboplatin IV over 1 hour on day 0. Arm II: Patients receive ISIS 3521 IV continuously on days 0-14 and paclitaxel IV over 3 hours and carboplatin IV over 1 hour on day 3. Treatment repeats every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with stable or responsive disease receive 6 courses of treatment. Patients with responsive disease may receive additional courses of treatment. Patients are followed at 1, 2, 4, and 6 months and then every 3 months thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 600 patients (300 per treatment arm) will be accrued for this study within 15 months.