Paclitaxel With or Without Carboplatin and/or Bevacizumab Followed by Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide in Treating Patients With Breast Cancer That Can Be Removed by Surgery

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine whether adding bevacizumab to neoadjuvant weekly paclitaxel (+/- carboplatin) and subsequent dose-dense doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (ddAC) significantly raises the rate of pathologic complete response (pCR) in the breast in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-poor/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) (-), resectable breast cancer. II. To determine whether adding carboplatin every 3 weeks to neoadjuvant weekly paclitaxel followed by ddAC (+/- bevacizumab) significantly raises the rate of pCR in the breast in patients with HR-poor/HER2(-), resectable breast cancer. III. To determine whether adding bevacizumab every 2 weeks to neoadjuvant weekly paclitaxel (+/- carboplatin) and subsequent ddAC significantly raises the rate of pCR in the breast in patients with basal-like breast cancers, as defined by gene expression array. IV. To determine whether adding carboplatin every 3 weeks to neoadjuvant weekly paclitaxel followed by ddAC (+/- bevacizumab) significantly raises the rate of pCR in the breast in patients with basal-like breast cancers, as defined by gene expression array. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the pCR rates in the breast and axilla, using American Joint Committee On Cancer (AJCC) TNM criteria (version 6), to neoadjuvant weekly paclitaxel, with or without carboplatin, followed by ddAC, with or without bevacizumab, given concurrently with the weekly paclitaxel and ddAC, in (a) patients with HR-poor/HER2(-), resectable breast cancer and (b) the subset of patients with basal-like breast cancers, as defined by gene expression array. II. To assess whether there is an interaction between the addition of carboplatin and bevacizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with weekly paclitaxel followed by ddAC as regards the path pCR rates in (a) patients with HR-poor/HER2(-), resectable breast cancer and (b) the subset of patients with basal-like breast cancers, as defined by gene expression array. III. To assess the toxicity of the control regimen (weekly paclitaxel followed by ddAC) and any incremental toxicities associated with the addition of carboplatin and/or bevacizumab in this patient population, including the incidence of febrile neutropenia, grade \>= 3 thrombocytopenia, grade \>= 2 neurotoxicity, grade \>= 3 hypertension, and clinically significant bleeding or thrombotic (including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular) events. IV. To determine the recurrence-free survival (RFS) measured from definitive surgery to first event, and time to first failure (TFF) measured from study entry to first event. V. To determine overall survival (OS), defined as time from registration to death from any cause. VI. To assess the impact of NAC with weekly paclitaxel followed by ddAC, with or without carboplatin and/or bevacizumab, on axillary lymph node involvement at surgery, particularly in patients with clinically or histologically positive axillary lymph nodes prior to initiation of NAC. VII. To assess the impact of the addition of bevacizumab to NAC on the incidence and severity of post-op complications, especially excessive bleeding, delayed wound healing, and thrombotic complications. VIII. To evaluate residual cancer burden (RCB) as a predictor of RFS, TFF and OS. IX. To determine the correlation between clinical, radiographic, and pathologic response. TERTIARY OBJECTIVES: I. To assess whether the impact of the addition of carboplatin and/or bevacizumab to NAC with weekly paclitaxel followed by ddAC on achievement of pathologic CRs in patients with HR-poor/HER2(-), resectable breast cancer is influenced by molecular subtype, as defined by gene expression array. II. To obtain blood, fresh frozen and fixed tumor tissue to test specific hypotheses for which biomarker data exist and to evaluate biomarkers in tissue, blood, and serum that may influence response to and toxicity of weekly paclitaxel, ddAC, carboplatin, and/or bevacizumab. III. To obtain blood samples to test specific hypotheses for which biomarker data exist and to evaluate biomarkers in blood that may influence response to and toxicity of weekly paclitaxel, ddAC, carboplatin and/or bevacizumab. IV. To determine the surgical practice patterns for breast conservation and sentinel lymphadenectomy in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. V. To examine the practice patterns and use of sentinel lymphadenectomy (pre-chemotherapy or post-chemotherapy) in patients with T2 or T3 breast cancer. VI. To examine the proportion of patients who presented with T2 or T3 cancers who undergo mastectomy despite cytoreduction adequate for breast conservation. VII. To determine the radiotherapy practice patterns for post-mastectomy and regional nodal irradiation in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 4 treatment arms. ARM I: Patients receive paclitaxel intravenously (IV) over 60 minutes once weekly in weeks 1-12. Patients then receive dose-dense doxorubicin hydrochloride IV over 3-10 minutes and cyclophosphamide IV over 5-60 minutes (ddAC) once in weeks 13, 15, 17, and 19. ARM II: Patients receive paclitaxel and ddAC as in Arm I. Patients also receive bevacizumab IV over 30-90 minutes once in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17. ARM III: Patients receive paclitaxel and ddAC as in Arm I. Patients also receive carboplatin IV over 30 minutes once in weeks 1, 4, 7, and 10. ARM IV: Patients receive paclitaxel and ddAC as in Arm I, bevacizumab as in Arm II, and carboplatin as in Arm III. Patients in all arms undergo definitive surgery (i.e., modified radical mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery with appropriate management of the axilla) between 4-8 weeks after completion of neoadjuvant therapy. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up periodically for up to 10 years.