Sunitinib Malate as Maintenance Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage III or Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Previously Treated With Combination Chemotherapy

Inclusion criteria

* Histologic or cytologic documentation of primary non-small cell lung cancer * Stage IIIB or IV disease patients who are not candidates for combined modality therapy (chemoradiotherapy) * No evidence of symptomatic or untreated brain metastases, spinal cord compression, or carcinomatous meningitis; patients with central nervous system (CNS) metastases must be asymptomatic, must have received definitive therapy (\>= 6 weeks since resection or \>= 2 weeks since radiotherapy) for brain metastases, and be off steroids or on a stable dose for 2 weeks prior to registration * No cavitary lesions * Patients must have received one chemotherapy regimen for stage IIIB or IV NSCLC; the regimen must include four cycles of platinum-based doublet chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab (bevacizumab may not be given beyond the fourth cycle of chemotherapy); patients must have achieved a complete response, partial response, or stable disease to first-line chemotherapy and have no evidence of disease progression; patients will be registered 3-5 weeks following day 1 of cycle 4 of prior therapy * No prior adjuvant chemotherapy for stage I-III resected NSCLC or combined modality therapy for stage III NSCLC * No other primary therapy (including experimental therapy) for NSCLC; palliative radiation therapy must have been completed at least one week before planned start of protocol therapy * Patients must have measurable or non-measurable disease * Measurable disease: lesions that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded) as \>= 2 cm with conventional techniques or as \>= 1 cm with spiral computed tomography (CT) scan * Non-measurable disease: all other lesions, including small lesions (longest diameter \< 20 mm with conventional techniques or \< 10 mm with spiral CT scan) and truly non-measurable lesions; lesions that are considered non-measurable include the following: * Bone lesions * Leptomeningeal disease * Ascites * Pleural/pericardial effusion * Lymphangitis cutis/pulmonis * Abdominal masses that are not confirmed and followed by imaging techniques * Cystic lesions * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0 or 1 * Non-pregnant and non-nursing * No ongoing cardiac dysrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, or history of corrected QT (QTc) interval \>= 500 msec (within 2 years prior to registration); the use of agents with proarrhythmic potential (e.g., quinidine, procainamide, disopyramide, sotalol, probucol, haloperidol, risperidone, indapamide, flecainide) is not recommended while on protocol therapy * Patients with class I New York Heart Association (NYHA) heart failure are eligible; patients with a history of class II NYHA heart failure are eligible, provided they meet at least one of the following criteria: * Patients with a history of class II heart failure who are asymptomatic on treatment * Patients with prior anthracycline exposure * Patients who have received central thoracic radiation that included the heart in the radiotherapy port * Patients with a history of class III or IV NYHA heart failure within 12 months prior to registration are not eligible * No myocardial infarction, severe/unstable angina, coronary/peripheral artery bypass graft or stenting, cerebrovascular accident or transient ischemic attack within the last year * Patients with hypertension that cannot be controlled by medications (\> 150/100 mmHg despite optimal medical therapy) are not eligible * Patients who require use of therapeutic anticoagulation for thromboembolic disease are not eligible; Note: low doses of coumadin (up to 2 mg daily) are permitted for prophylaxis of thrombosis * No history of venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or hypercoagulopathy syndrome * No history of pulmonary hemorrhage, bleeding diathesis, or evidence of hemoptysis; patients with blood-tinged or blood-streaked sputum will be permitted on study if the hemoptysis amounts to less than 5 ml of blood per episode and less than 10 ml of blood per 24-hour period in the best estimate of the investigator * Patients with a history of hypothyroidism are eligible, provided they are currently euthyroid * None of the following within 28 days of beginning treatment: abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, intra-abdominal abscess, serious or non-healing wound, ulcer, or bone fracture * The following inhibitors of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) are prohibited within 7 days before beginning and during treatment with sunitinib: azole antifungals (ketoconazole, itraconazole), diltiazem, clarithromycin, erythromycin, verapamil, delavirdine, and human immunodeficiency virus \[HIV\] protease inhibitors (indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, atazanavir, nelfinavir); the following inducers of CYP3A4 are prohibited within 12 days before beginning and during treatment with sunitinib: rifampin, rifabutin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, St. John?s Wort, efavirenz, tipranavir; other inhibitors and inducers of CYP3A4 may be used if necessary, but their use is discouraged * Patients unable to take oral medication are not eligible * Granulocytes \>= 1,500/mcl * Platelet count \>= 100,000/mcl * Total bilirubin =\< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)=\< 2.5 x ULN; patients with liver metastases may have AST and ALT =\< 5 x ULN; all other patients will have AST and ALT =\< 2.5 x ULN * Creatinine =\< 1.5 mg/dl