The Effect of Simvastatin on Breast Cancer Cell Growth in Women With Stage I-II Breast Cancer

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Evaluate the relationship between short-term use of oral simvastatin on change in expression of Ki-67 as a candidate biomarker of breast tumor proliferation among women with clinical stage 1 or 2- primary invasive breast cancer. II. Evaluate the relationship between short-term use of oral simvastatin on changes in other candidate predictive markers of breast tumor proliferation (cyclin D1 and P27), changes in a marker of apoptosis (cleaved caspase-3 \[CC3\]), changes in a marker of inflammation (c-reactive protein \[CRP\]) and as novel additional biomarkers changes in the composition of the plasma membrane (lipid rafts) and changes in activation of signaling markers (phosphorylation \[p\]Akt, pMAPK, pEGFR, PHER2). III. To conduct exploratory analyses comparing the effect of statins on breast tumor proliferation and apoptosis in groups defined by tumor expression of hydroxymethylglutaryl co-enzyme A (CoA) reductase (HMG-CoA), estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) status, HER2neu, and tumor grade. OUTLINE: Patients receive simvastatin orally (PO) daily for 2-4 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.