DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the breast

• Node-positive disease in 1 or more axillary or internal mammary lymph node by histology with hematoxylin and eosin staining

  • Patients with immunohistologic staining as the only evidence of nodal involvement are not eligible

• Has undergone prior definitive breast surgery including total mastectomy and axillary dissection (modified radical mastectomy), total mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy, lumpectomy and axillary dissection or lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy within the past 29-84 days (group I only)

  • Surgical margins must be histologically free of invasive tumor AND ductal carcinoma in situ

    • Lobular carcinoma in situ allowed
• Synchronous bilateral breast cancer diagnosed within the past month allowed provided the higher TNM stage tumor meets study eligibility criteria
• No HER2/neu-positive disease (i.e., 3+ by immunohistochemistry or positive by fluorescent in situ hybridization)
• No clinical evidence of inflammatory disease or fixed axillary nodes (N2)

• Hormone receptor status:

  • Any receptor status allowed

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Sex

• Male or female

Menopausal status

• Not specified

Performance status

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

• Not specified

Hematopoietic

• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,000/mm^3
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3

Hepatic

• Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
• AST ≤ 2 times upper limit normal (ULN)
• PT INR ≤ 1.5 times normal
• PTT ≤ 1.5 times normal

Renal

• Creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
• Urine protein:creatinine ratio < 1.0

Cardiovascular

• LVEF normal by MUGA or echocardiogram
• No history of myocardial infarction within the past year
• No history of unstable angina within the past year
• No history of arterial thrombotic events within the past year
• No uncontrolled or clinically significant arrhythmia
• No New York Heart Association grade II-IV congestive heart failure
• No peripheral vascular disease ≥ grade II
• No uncontrolled hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) > 160 mm Hg or diastolic BP > 90 mm Hg
• No history of deep venous thrombosis
• No history of cerebrovascular disease, including transient ischemic attack or stroke
• No other clinically significant cardiovascular disease

Pulmonary

• No history of pulmonary embolism

Other

• Not pregnant
• No nursing during and for ≥ 3-4 months after completion of study treatment
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3-4 months after completion of study treatment
• No abdominal fistula, gastrointestinal perforation, or intra-abdominal abscess within the past 6 months
• No non-healing wound or bone fracture
• No hypersensitivity to paclitaxel or drugs using Cremophor
• No hypersensitivity to Chinese hamster ovary cell products or other recombinant human antibodies

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• Not specified

Chemotherapy

• No prior cytotoxic chemotherapy for breast cancer
• No prior anthracycline, anthracenedione, or taxane for any condition

Endocrine therapy

• No prior hormonal therapy for breast cancer
• Prior tamoxifen or raloxifene for chemoprevention allowed
• No other concurrent tamoxifen or raloxifene

Radiotherapy

• No prior radiotherapy for breast cancer
• No concurrent radiotherapy to the internal mammary chain

Surgery

• See Disease Characteristics

• More than 4 weeks since prior major surgery

  • Non-operative biopsy or placement of a vascular access device is not considered major surgery

Other

• No concurrent therapeutic anticoagulants

  • Concurrent prophylactic use of anticoagulants to maintain patency of vascular assess device allowed
• No concurrent regular use of aspirin (i.e., daily for ≥ 10 days at doses of > 325 mg/day) or regular therapeutic doses of other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs known to inhibit platelet function*

• No other concurrent drugs known to inhibit platelet function, including any of the following:

  • Dipyridamole
  • Ticlopidine
  • Clopidogrel
  • Cilostazol
• No concurrent cardioprotectant agents NOTE: *Regular use of cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors or low-dose aspirin allowed