Chemotherapy With or Without Bevacizumab in Treating Women With Stage I, Stage II, or Stage IIIA Breast Cancer That Can Be Removed By Surgery

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Compare the efficacy of docetaxel followed by doxorubicin hydrocloride and cyclophosphamide (AC) vs docetaxel and capecitabine followed by AC vs docetaxel and gemcitabine hydrochloride followed by AC, with or without bevacizumab, in terms of an increase in the rate of pathologic complete response (pCR) in the breast, in women with palpable or operable breast cancer. Secondary * Compare docetaxel/capecitabine with AC vs docetaxel/gemcitabine hydrochloride with AC vs docetaxel with AC, with or without bevacizumab, in terms of the rate of pCR in the breast and all post-therapy lymph nodes evaluated histologically (pCR breast and nodes). * Determine whether the addition of bevacizumab to the docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens (docetaxel with AC, docetaxel and capecitabine with AC, and docetaxel and gemcitabine hydrochloride with AC) will increase the rate of pCR of the breast and nodes compared to the same docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens without bevacizumab in these patients. * Determine whether the addition of capecitabine or gemcitabine hydrochloride to docetaxel, with or without bevacizumab, will increase the rate of clinical overall response (cOR) compared to docetaxel alone with or without bevacizumab in these patients. * Determine whether the addition of bevacizumab to the docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens will increase the rate of cOR compared to the same docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens without bevacizumab in these patients. * Determine whether the addition of capecitabine or gemcitabine hydrochloride to docetaxel, with or without bevacizumab, will increase the rate of clinical complete response (cCR) compared to docetaxel alone with or without bevacizumab in these patients. * Determine whether the addition of bevacizumab to the docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens (docetaxel with AC, docetaxel/capecitabine with AC, and docetaxel/gemcitabine hydrochloride with AC) will increase the rate of cCR compared to the same docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens without bevacizumab in these patients. * Identify gene expression profiles that can predict pCR in patients treated with the different sequential docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens with or without bevacizumab. * Identify gene expression profiles that can predict cOR in patients treated with docetaxel alone, docetaxel/capecitabine, or docetaxel/gemcitabine hydrochloride with or without bevacizumab. * Determine the accuracy of an in vitro chemoresponse assay (ChemoFx®) as a predictor of pCR in patients treated with the different sequential docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens without bevacizumab. * Determine the accuracy of ChemoFx® as a predictor of cOR in patients treated with docetaxel alone, docetaxel/capecitabine, or docetaxel/gemcitabine hydrochloride without bevacizumab in these patients. * Determine the impact of preoperative bevacizumab and sequential chemotherapy regimens and postoperative bevacizumab therapy on cardiac function in these patients. * Determine the impact of bevacizumab on surgical complications in these patients. * Determine the toxicity of the preoperative regimens and the toxicity of postoperative bevacizumab in these patients. * Compare the docetaxel/anthracycline-based regimens with vs without bevacizumab, in terms of an increase in disease-free survival, of these patients. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to tumor size (2-4 cm vs \> 4 cm), nodal status (negative vs positive), hormone receptor status (estrogen receptor \[ER\]-positive and/or progesterone-receptor \[PgR\]-positive vs ER- and PgR-negative), and age (\< 50 years vs ≥ 50 years). Patients are randomized to 1 of 6 treatment arms. Core needle biopsies are performed at baseline. Tumor tissue samples are also collected during definitive surgery. Samples are examined for gene expression and polymorphism by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis and chemoresponse assay (ChemoFx®). After completion of study therapy, patients are followed periodically for 10 years. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 1,200 patients will be accrued for this study.