Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Women With Stage II or Stage IIIA Breast Cancer That Has Spread to the Lymph Nodes

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known which regimen of chemotherapy is more effective for breast cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of two different regimens of combination chemotherapy in treating women who have stage II or stage IIIA breast cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes.

OBJECTIVES: * Compare the disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with node-positive or high-risk node-negative operable stage II or IIIA breast cancer treated with docetaxel or paclitaxel after doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide. * Determine whether the weekly administration of paclitaxel or docetaxel for 12 weeks improves disease-free survival and overall survival when compared with the conventional schedule of every 3 weeks for 4 courses after doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide in this patient population. * Compare the toxic effects of docetaxel and paclitaxel when administered weekly for 12 weeks versus every 3 weeks for 4 courses in these patients. * Compare the toxicity of paclitaxel administered every 3 weeks for 4 courses or weekly for 12 weeks to that of docetaxel administered on the same schedules in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to estrogen receptor status (positive vs negative vs unknown), nodal status (0 positive nodes vs 1-3 positive nodes vs 4-9 positive nodes vs at least 10 positive nodes), tumor size (no more than 5 cm vs more than 5 cm vs unknown), and type of prior surgery (mastectomy vs breast conservation surgery). Patients are randomized to one of four treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive doxorubicin IV and cyclophosphamide IV every 3 weeks for 4 courses (weeks 1-12). Beginning at week 13, patients receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours every 3 weeks for 4 courses. * Arm II: Patients receive doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide as in arm I. Beginning at week 13, patients receive paclitaxel IV over 1 hour weekly for 12 weeks. * Arm III: Patients receive doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide as in arm I. Beginning at week 13, patients receive docetaxel IV over 1 hour every 3 weeks for 4 courses. * Arm IV: Patients receive doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide as in arm I. Beginning at week 13, patients receive docetaxel IV over 1 hour weekly for 12 weeks. Within 4 weeks after completion of chemotherapy, patients with estrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive tumors receive oral tamoxifen daily for 5 years. After completion of all chemotherapy, patients with prior segmental mastectomy receive radiotherapy once daily 5 days per week for 5-6 weeks. Patients with prior modified radical mastectomy may receive radiotherapy after chemotherapy completion at the investigator's discretion. Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 5,000 patients will be accrued for this study within 1.27 years.