Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Treating Women Who Have Undergone Resection for Relapsed Breast Cancer; Chemotherapy as Adjuvant for LOcally Recurrent Breast Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer * First local and/or regional (i.e., ipsilateral axillary or internal mammary lymph node region) recurrence after primary treatment with mastectomy or lumpectomy/quadrantectomy with clear surgical margins * Local failure is defined as a tumor recurrence in any soft tissue of the ipsilateral conserved breast or the chest wall, mastectomy scar, and/or skin * Regional failure is defined as a tumor recurrence in the ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes, extranodal soft tissue of the ipsilateral axilla, and/or ipsilateral internal mammary. Regional failure does not include supraclavicular lymph nodes or tumor in the opposite breast * No other prior recurrence in any site, including local * Surgical resection of the recurrence meeting 1 of the following criteria: * Uninvolved ("clear") margins and planned radiotherapy with at least 40 Gy for patients who had no prior adjuvant radiotherapy * Mastectomy of the recurrence with uninvolved ("clear") margins after lumpectomy/quadrantectomy alone for the primary * Adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin®) therapy or other HER-2 directed therapies are allowed for patients with HER-2 positive tumors and must be declared prior to randomization * No evidence of distant metastasis, including ipsilateral supraclavicular lymph nodes, by x-ray or CT scan of the chest, ultrasound or CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis, or bone scintigraphy only if alkaline phosphatase is \> 2 times normal or if medically indicated (e.g., bone pain) * No macroscopically incomplete surgery * No bilateral malignancy except carcinoma in situ * No suspicious mass in the opposite breast unless that mass has been proven by biopsy to be benign * No skeletal pain of unknown cause * No hot spots on bone scan for which metastases cannot be ruled out by x-ray, MRI, and/or CT scan * Hormone receptor status: * Determined in the recurrent tumor by immunohistochemistry and/or ligand-binding assay * Estrogen receptor positive or negative * Progesterone receptor positive or negative PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age * Minimum 18 years Sex * Female Menopausal status * Not specified Performance status * Not specified Life expectancy * Not specified Hematopoietic * Not specified Hepatic * No elevated alkaline phosphatase Renal * Not specified Other * Fertile patients must use effective non-hormonal contraception * Medically suitable for chemotherapy of 3-6 months duration * No other primary malignant tumors except adequately treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix or nonmelanoma skin cancer * No non-malignant systemic disease that would preclude study treatment or prolong follow-up * No psychiatric or addictive disorder that would preclude giving informed consent * No history of noncompliance to medical regimens or potential for being unreliable PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy * Not specified Chemotherapy * See Disease Characteristics Endocrine therapy * Not specified Radiotherapy * See Disease Characteristics Surgery * See Disease Characteristics