Early Surgery or Standard Palliative Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage IV Breast Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of intact primary (not recurrent) invasive carcinoma of the breast

  • Stage IV disease
  • Confirmation of the primary tumor should be by needle biopsy (preferred)
  • Incisional surgical biopsy allowed as long as there is residual palpable or tumor image in the breast
• Patients must be judged to be candidates for complete resection with free margins followed by radiation therapy (if radiation therapy is indicated)
• For women not undergoing axillary dissection, sentinel node biopsy should document an axillary nodal burden of 1-2 involved lymph nodes (i.e., ACOSOG Z-11 criteria may be applied)
• Prior non-invasive (DCIS) cancer allowed provided there has been no recurrence
• Prior ipsilateral invasive cancer allowed if more than 5 years previous
• No synchronous contralateral breast cancer

• Patients should have at least one organ system involved with distant metastatic disease

  • If patient has only one metastatic lesion/focus, this must be proven by biopsy and the pathology report confirming the diagnosis of primary breast cancer, as well as the metastatic site, must be available
• Must have available radiologic reports documenting disease status within the past 6 weeks prior to initiating systemic therapy
• CNS metastases allowed provided projected survival > 6 months

• Patients must have completed at least 16 weeks of optimal systemic therapy (appropriate to the tumor biological profile and the patient's age and menopausal status)

  • If systemic therapy is discontinued for toxicity, but there is no distant progression and at least 12 weeks of therapy have been delivered, then the patient remains eligible
  • Radiation therapy (if indicated) must begin within 12 weeks of final therapeutic surgical procedure (including re-excision for free margins and completion of axillary dissection)

• Patients may register at any time from the time of diagnosis of stage IV breast cancer (if eligibility criteria met) to the time when a maximum of 30 weeks of induction systemic therapy has been completed

  • Patients must be randomized within 16-32 weeks after the start of systemic therapy

• Patients must not have experienced disease progression since the start of systemic therapy, as evidenced by radiographic documentation of disease status before treatment and within 4 weeks +/- 2 weeks prior to randomization, including:

  • No new sites of disease
  • No enlargement of existing sites by 20% or more in longest diameter
  • No symptomatic deterioration
• Patients who require radiotherapy to bone metastases during induction systemic therapy are eligible
• Local disease at the primary site must be asymptomatic
• Hormone receptor status known

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• See Disease Characteristics
• Menopausal status not specified
• Patients must have adequate organ function to undergo local therapy 4 weeks +/- 2 weeks prior to randomization per investigator discretion and institutional guidelines
• More than 5 years since other primary cancers that were curatively treated
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use an accepted and effective contraception method

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics