- Patients must not have had a previous surgical resection; however, patients may have undergone exploratory thoracotomy, mediastinoscopy, excisional biopsy or similar surgery for the purpose of determining the diagnosis, stage or potential resectability of newly diagnosed lung tumor; at least 28 days must have elapsed since thoracic surgery (excluding mediastinoscopy or other minor surgeries) and patients should have recovered from all associated toxicities at the time of registration; patients must not be planning to undergo a minor surgical procedure while on this study