Bexarotene in Preventing Breast Cancer in Patients at High Risk for Breast Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •Participants must be at high risk as defined by a history of breast cancer (invasive or ductal breast carcinoma in situ \[DCIS\]) and be at least 5 years out from diagnosis, or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), or proliferative benign breast disease such atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH) or genetic test confirmation of BRCA 1/2 mutation carrier or have a breast cancer risk assessment \>= 1.7% in 5 years or a lifetime risk \>= 20%
• •No evidence of disease (in situ or invasive cancer that would normally be treated by resection) at trial entry as determined by the investigator; diagnosis of invasive cancer must be at least 5 years prior to initiation on trial
• •Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 1 (Karnofsky \>= 70%)
• •Leukocytes \>= 3,000/microliter
• •Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/microliter
• •Platelets \>= 100,000/microliter
• •Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits
• •Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN)
• •Creatinine =\< 1.5 x institutional ULN
• •Hemoglobin \>= 10 g/dL
• •Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) within normal institutional limits
• •Triglycerides =\< 300 mg/dl
• •Total cholesterol =\< 300 mg/dl
• •\>= 6 months from all previous breast cancer treatment (including endocrine therapy)
• •Participants must have adequate accessible breast tissue as determined by the treating physician, consisting of one breast unaffected by invasive cancer, which has not been radiated; a history of benign core biopsy of this breast will be permitted
• •Participants need to have had any breast imaging with a normal/benign (bi-rads 1 or 2) result within 180 days of day 0 and no further routine breast imaging planned during the course of the study (4 weeks); exception: if the mammogram result was a bi-rads 0 and the imaging work-up (ultrasound and/or magnetic resonance imaging \[MRI\]) result comes back normal/benign (bi-rads 1 or 2) before treatment initiation, then participant is eligible.
• •For women of childbearing potential; negative pregnancy testing within 72 hours prior to or on study visit #1 (day 0) and willingness to use adequate contraception during the study intervention; OR post-menopausal defined as any one of the following 1) prior hysterectomy, 2) absence of menstrual period for 1 year in the absence of prior chemotherapy or 3) absence of menstrual period for 2 years in women with a prior history of chemotherapy exposure who were pre-menopausal prior to chemotherapy; in women of childbearing potential, effective contraception must be used for one month prior to the initiation of therapy, during therapy, and for at least one month following discontinuation of therapy; it is recommended that two reliable forms of contraception be used simultaneously; if participants are interested in enrolling and have not met the requirement for contraception, they will be seen in the clinic in 1 month for re-evaluation once they have met this requirement and ensure all other eligibility criteria is met prior to dose assignment
• •Willingness to comply with all study interventions and follow-up procedures including the ability to apply the study drug to the breast
• •Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document
• •Ability to avoid exposure of the treated breast area to sunlight and artificial ultraviolet light during the use of bexarotene gel