High Dose Chemotherapy Plus Peripheral Stem Cell Transplantation Compared With Standard Therapy in Treating Women With Metastatic or Recurrent Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the overall survival of women with metastatic breast cancer receiving either high dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell therapy or standard therapy following response to anthracycline or taxane based chemotherapy. II. Evaluate the final response rates between the two treatment arms. III. Compare the two treatment arms with respect to toxic effects. IV. Assess health related quality of life in both groups of patients. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, nonblinded, randomized study. Patients are stratified by type of induction chemotherapy, response status, presence of visceral disease, receptor status and tamoxifen therapy (ER negative; ER positive, no prior tamoxifen; ER positive, failed tamoxifen; receptor status unknown). A quality of life questionnaire is given to each patient before and during treatment, then every 3 months thereafter. Patients are assessed following 4 courses of induction chemotherapy. Those achieving complete remission, partial remission, or who have no evaluable disease are randomized to either treatment arm I or arm II. For treatment arm I, stem cells are mobilized by chemotherapy (courses 5 and 6) plus filgrastim (G-CSF) or with G-CSF alone. Following course 6, patients receive daily doses of IV cyclophosphamide, mitoxantrone, and carboplatin on days -6 to -3, followed by stem cell infusion on day 0 and G-CSF from day 5. In arm II, patients receive two further courses of standard induction chemotherapy, followed by maintenance chemotherapy at the discretion of the treating physician. All patients with positive receptor status or unknown receptor status who have not previously failed tamoxifen therapy, receive tamoxifen at the completion of post peripheral stem cell transplant (arm I) or induction chemotherapy (arm II). Following hematologic recovery from high dose chemotherapy patients in arm I with limited disease receive consolidated radiation and may also receive surgical treatment for limited disease. In arm II, patients who completed courses 5 and 6 of induction chemotherapy receive involved field radiation at the physician's discretion. Patients from arm II may also receive surgical treatment following protocol therapy at the physician's discretion. Patients are followed every 3 months until death. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: This study will accrue approximately 50 patients per year for a total of 192 patients in 3.8 years.