Erlotinib in Treating Patients With Breast Cancer That Can Be Removed by Surgery

Inclusion Criteria: * Clinical stage I or II (T1 or T2, N0 or N1) invasive mammary carcinoma * Diagnosis may be made by fine needle aspiration cytology or core biopsy * A repeat core biopsy is not required for patients who have a paraffin embedded diagnostic core biopsy specimen available for immunohistochemical staining Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with locally advanced disease who are planning to undergo preoperative neoadjuvant therapy are not eligible\* * Locally advanced disease includes any of the following: * Primary tumor ≥ 5 cm (T3) * Tumor of any size with direct extension to the chest wall or skin (T4a-c) * Inflammatory breast cancer (T4d) * Fixed axillary lymph node metastases (N2) * Metastasis to ipsilateral internal mammary node (N3) NOTE: \*Patients with primary tumors ≥ 5 cm (T3) or tumors involving the chest wall or skin who are not candidates for preoperative chemotherapy or who decline preoperative chemotherapy are eligible * Measurable residual tumor at the primary site * Measurable disease is defined as any mass that can be reproducibly measured by physical examination * Planning to undergo surgical treatment with either segmental resection or total mastectomy * Patients with a prior history of contralateral breast cancer are eligible if they have no evidence of recurrence of their initial primary breast cancer * No locally recurrent breast cancer * No evidence of distant metastatic disease (i.e., lung, liver, bone, or brain metastases) * Hormone receptor status not specified PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Menopausal status not specified * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1 * ANC ≥ 1,000/mm\^3 * Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) * Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times ULN * Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transminase (SGOT) and serum glutamic pyruvic transminase (SGPT) ≤ 1.5 times ULN * Must be at least 18 years old * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile patients must use effective contraception * No serious medical illness that, in the judgement of the treating physician, places the patient at high risk of operative mortality PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics * No prior chemotherapy for this primary breast cancer * At least 7 days since prior tamoxifen or raloxifene as a preventive agent