Neoadjuvant Docetaxel in Treating Women With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Correlate baseline and change in apoptosis and proliferation with clinical and pathological response to neoadjuvant docetaxel followed by surgery in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Secondary * Correlate baseline and change in fludeoxyglucose F 18 positron emission tomography uptake with clinical and pathological response in patients treated with this regimen. * Correlate baseline and change in gene expression profiles with clinical and pathological response in patients treated with this regimen. * Correlate baseline and change in tumor and serum proteomic patterns with clinical and pathological response in patients treated with this regimen. OUTLINE: This is a pilot study. * Neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Patients receive docetaxel IV over 1 hour on day 1 and pegfilgrastim subcutaneously (SC) on day 2. Treatment repeats every 14 days for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. * Surgery: Within 2-4 weeks after the completion of 4 courses of docetaxel, patients undergo breast-conserving surgery or a mastectomy at the discretion of the treating surgeon. Patients may receive additional chemotherapy prior to surgery at the discretion of the treating physician. * Adjuvant chemotherapy: Patients receive adjuvant chemotherapy at the discretion of the treating physician. * Radiotherapy: Patients undergo radiotherapy after the completion of all chemotherapy at the discretion of the treating physician. * Hormonal therapy: Patients with estrogen- and/or progesterone-positive tumors receive hormonal therapy after the completion of chemotherapy and all local therapies at the discretion of the treating physician. Patients are followed every 6 months. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 40 patients will be accrued for this study.