DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Meets any of the following criteria:

  • History of invasive breast cancer
  • History of ductal carcinoma in situ
  • At high risk for breast cancer, defined as being on anastrozole for chemoprevention of breast cancer
• Receiving anastrozole for ≥ 30 days as adjuvant breast cancer treatment or for prevention of breast cancer
• No active breast cancer with known metastatic involvement
• Hormone receptor status not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Female
• Postmenopausal
• ECOG performance status 0-2
• AST and ALT ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal
• Creatinine clearance ≥ 30 mL/min
• No active liver disease
• No prior hypersensitivity to any HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor or any of its components

• No daily alcohol use of > 3 standard drinks/day

  • A standard drink is defined as 10 g of alcohol, which is equivalent to 285 mL of beer, 530 mL of light beer, 100 mL of wine, or 30 mL of liquor

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• No cholesterol-lowering drug, including a statin, within the past 3 months
• No selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) within the past 3 months
• No other hormone therapy within the past 3 months

• No prior estrogen and/or progesterone hormone replacement therapy that lasted for ≥ 5 years

  • Vaginal estrogen preparations allowed
• No other concurrent statin or cholesterol-lowering drug
• No other concurrent SERM
• No other concurrent hormone therapy
• No other concurrent investigational drugs
• No concurrent CYP3A4 inhibitors, including itraconazole, ketoconazole, erythromycin, clarithromycin, telithromycin, HIV protease inhibitors, nefazodone, or cyclosporine
• No concurrent chemotherapy or biological agents
• No concurrent daily grapefruit juice > 8 oz/day
• No other concurrent anticancer agents or therapies