DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the breast

  • Stage I or II disease (early stage) with tumor measuring ≥ 1 cm and meeting any the following criteria:

    • Grade > 1
    • Estrogen receptor- and progesterone receptor-negative
    • Age ≤ 35 years
  • Stage II-III (locally advanced) disease
  • Resectable disease

• Meets none of the following criteria:

  • Inflammatory breast cancer, defined as the presence of erythema or induration involving > 1/3 of the breast
  • Bilateral invasive breast cancer
  • Metastatic disease
• HER2/neu-positivity by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
• Hormone receptor status known

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Menopausal status not specified
• ECOG performance status 0-1
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm³
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL
• Creatinine < 1.5 mg/dL
• Total bilirubin ≤ 1.0 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (< 3 times ULN in patients with Gilbert's syndrome confirmed by genotyping or Invader UGTIA1 molecular assay)

• Alkaline phosphatase (AP), ALT, and AST must meet 1 of the following criteria:

  • AP normal AND AST/ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
  • AP ≤ 2.5 times ULN AND ALT/AST ≤ 1.5 times ULN
  • AP ≤ 5 times ULN AND AST/ALT normal
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for ≥ 3 months after completion of study treatment
• Cardiac function normal (ejection fraction ≥ lower limit of normal) as determined by MUGA or echocardiogram
• No history of any other malignancy within the past 5 years, with the exception of nonmelanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix
• No pre-existing motor or sensory neurotoxicity ≥ grade 2 by NCI NTCAE version 3.0

• No cardiac disease including any of the following:

  • Myocardial infarction within the past 6 months
  • Unstable angina
  • New York Heart Association class II-IV congestive heart failure
• No inflammatory bowel disease or other bowel condition causing chronic diarrhea and requiring active therapy
• No active, uncontrolled infection requiring parenteral antimicrobials
• No known hypersensitivity to Chinese hamster ovary products or other recombinant human or humanized antibodies and/or known hypersensitivity to any of the study drugs or their ingredients (e.g., polysorbate 80 in docetaxel)
• Accessible and willing to comply with treatment, tissue acquisition, and follow up
• No other medical or psychiatric disorder that, in the opinion of the treating physician, would contraindicate the use of study drugs or place the subject at undue risk for treatment complications

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• At least 14 days since prior and no concurrent hormonal agent (e.g., raloxifene, tamoxifen citrate, or other selective estrogen receptor modulators) for osteoporosis or prevention of breast cancer
• At least 14 days since prior herbal or dietary supplements
• No prior ipsilateral radiotherapy for invasive or noninvasive breast cancer or to the ipsilateral chest wall for any malignancy
• No prior chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or endocrine therapy for currently diagnosed invasive or noninvasive breast cancer
• No concurrent ovarian hormonal replacement therapy
• No concurrent therapy with any other non-protocol anticancer therapy
• No concurrent inducers and inhibitors or CYP3A4
• No concurrent grapefruit juice or grapefruit