Captopril in Treating Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer or Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer That Has Been Previously Treated With Radiation Therapy With or Without Chemotherapy

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •One of the following histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnoses:
• •* Stage II-IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
• •* Stage I central NSCLC
• •* No peripheral coin lesions
• •* Limited stage small cell lung cancer
• •* Nonmetastatic disease that is receiving radiotherapy and the target is confined to a single radiotherapy treatment area
• •Planning to receive radiotherapy
• •* At least 45 Gy to be delivered to the target volume
• •* More than 25% of total lung volume to receive \> 20 Gy if receiving radiotherapy alone
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Age
• •18 and over
• •Performance status
• •Zubrod 0-1
• •Hematopoietic
• •Absolute granulocyte count greater than 1,000/mm\^3
• •Platelet count greater than 75,000/mm\^3
• •Hemoglobin greater than 9.0 g/dL (transfusion allowed)
• •Hepatic
• •Bilirubin less than 1.5 mg/dL
• •Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) less than 2 times normal
• •Renal
• •Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) less than 25 mg/dL
• •Creatinine less than 1.6 mg/dL
• •Urine protein less than 10 mg/dL
• •Urine glucose negative
• •Cardiovascular
• •Systolic blood pressure greater than 110 mm Hg
• •Diastolic blood pressure greater than 60 mm Hg
• •Other
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Negative pregnancy test
• •Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• •Sodium normal
• •Potassium normal
• •No collagen vascular disease (e.g., lupus or scleroderma)
• •* Rheumatoid arthritis allowed
• •No known hypersensitivity to ACE inhibitors
• •PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• •Biologic therapy
• •Not specified
• •Chemotherapy
• •Induction or concurrent chemotherapy allowed either during radiotherapy or during therapy with captopril
• •No concurrent methotrexate
• •Endocrine therapy
• •Not specified
• •Radiotherapy
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •Surgery
• •Prior pulmonary lobectomy or segmentectomy allowed
• •* No prior pneumonectomy
• •Other
• •No concurrent angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor antagonists for hypertension or congestive heart failure
• •No concurrent lithium
• •No concurrent procainamide