Purpose

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of giving erlotinib and dovitinib together to treat patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Erlotinib blocks the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and has known activity in non-small cell lung cancer and dovitinib blocks the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) and other targets which may be important to treat lung cancer. The combination of both drugs may work better than either drug alone, but may also have increased side effects. This trial will look at the side effects of combining the drugs and look for how effective the combination may be.