PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To evaluate 14 tumor biomarkers of growth and metastasis (10 by microarray and 4 by RT-PCR) for change in response to ZA.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To evaluate 30 measures of immunologic function (by Luminex panel) for change in response to ZA a) after 48-72 hours and b) after 10-23 days.
II. To explore additional tumors biomarkers (approximately 20 by immunohistochemistry) for change in response to ZA.
OUTLINE: Patients receive zoledronic acid intravenously (IV) over 15 minutes on day 1. Patients then undergo planned definitive surgery (lumpectomy or mastectomy) on day 10-23. Tissue and blood samples from the initial biopsy and definitive surgery are collected to measure changes in biomarkers of tumor growth and metastasis, immunologic function, and the expression of genes important to breast cancer progression and metastasis.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 40-44 days.
