This study sought to determine the principal toxicities and feasibility of administering paclitaxel as a 3-hour infusion followed by carboplatin without and with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in chemotherapy-naive patients with stage IV non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), and to recommend doses for subsequent clinical trials. Twenty-three patients were treated with paclitaxel at doses ranging from 175 to 225 mg/m2 followed by carboplatin targeting area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) 7 or 9 mg/mL.min every 3 weeks. AUCs were targeted using the Calvert formula with estimated creatinine clearance as a surrogate for the glomerular filtration rate. A high rate of intolerable, mutually exclusive toxicities, consisting primarily of thrombocytopenia, as well as neutropenia, nausea and vomiting, and mucositis, precluded escalation of carboplatin above a targeted AUC of 7 mg/mL.min with paclitaxel 225 mg/m2, which approaches the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of paclitaxel given as a single agent on a 3-hour schedule. Moderate to severe peripheral neurotoxicity occurred in several patients after multiple courses. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the principal toxicities and the ability to administer clinically-relevant doses of both agents in combination without G-CSF, further dose escalation using G-CSF was not performed. Nine of 23 (39%) total patients and 43% of 21 assessable patients had partial responses (PR). The recommended doses for subsequent clinical trials are paclitaxel 225 mg/m2 as a 3-hour infusion followed by carboplatin at a targeted AUC of 7 mg/mL.min. The ability to administer clinically-relevant single agent doses of paclitaxel and carboplatin in combination, as well as the significant antitumor activity noted in this phase I trial, indicate that further evaluations of this regimen in both advanced and early stage NSCLC are warranted.