This randomized phase III trial studies the best individual therapy for women who have node-negative, estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer by using a special test (Oncotype DX), and whether hormone therapy alone or hormone therapy together with combination chemotherapy is better for women who have an Oncotype DX recurrence score of 11-25. Estrogen can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Hormone therapy may fight breast cancer by blocking the use of estrogen by the tumor cells or by lowering the amount of estrogen the body makes. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving hormone therapy together with more than one chemotherapy drug (combination chemotherapy) has been shown to reduce the chance of breast cancer recurrence, but the benefit of adding chemotherapy to hormone therapy for women with node-negative, estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer is small. New tests may provide information about which patients are more likely to benefit from chemotherapy.

Brief Title

Hormone Therapy With or Without Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Women Who Have Undergone Surgery for Node-Negative Breast Cancer (The TAILORx Trial)

Official Title

Program for the Assessment of Clinical Cancer Tests (PACCT-1): Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment:The TAILORx Trial

Brief Summary

This randomized phase III trial studies the best individual therapy for women who have <br /> node-negative, estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer by using a special test (Oncotype <br /> DX), and whether hormone therapy alone or hormone therapy together with combination <br /> chemotherapy is better for women who have an Oncotype DX recurrence score of 11-25. Estrogen <br /> can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Hormone therapy may fight breast cancer by <br /> blocking the use of estrogen by the tumor cells or by lowering the amount of estrogen the <br /> body makes. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor <br /> cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from <br /> spreading. Giving hormone therapy together with more than one chemotherapy drug (combination <br /> chemotherapy) has been shown to reduce the chance of breast cancer recurrence, but the <br /> benefit of adding chemotherapy to hormone therapy for women with node-negative, <br /> estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer is small. New tests may provide information about <br /> which patients are more likely to benefit from chemotherapy.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine whether adjuvant hormonal therapy is not inferior to adjuvant chemohormonal
in women whose tumors meet established clinical guidelines for adjuvant chemotherapy and fall
in the "primary study group" category (Oncotype DX Recurrence Score 11-25).

II. To create a tissue and specimen bank for patients enrolled in this trial, including
formalin fixed paraffin embedded tumor specimens, tissue microarrays, plasma, and
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) obtained from peripheral blood.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine whether adjuvant hormonal therapy is sufficient treatment (i.e. 10 year
distant disease-free survival of at least 95%) for women whose tumors meet established
clinical guidelines for adjuvant chemotherapy and who fall into the "Secondary Study Group-1"
category (Oncotype DX Recurrence Score =< 10).

II. To compare the outcomes projected at 10 years by Adjuvant (with outcomes projected using
classical pathologic information including tumor size, hormone receptor status, and
histologic grade) with those made by the Genomic Health Oncotype DX test. Classical
pathologic information and outcome results will also be used to create and refine models that
would use classical information instead of or in combination with genomic tests.

III. To estimate failure rates as a function of recurrence score (RS) separately in the
chemotherapy (arms C, D) and no chemotherapy (arms A, B) groups. The purpose of the analysis
is to develop more precise estimates of the relationship between recurrence score and
chemotherapy treatment effect, if any, at the upper range of the RS 11 - 25 group.

IV. To determine the prognostic significance of the Oncotype DX recurrence score and of the
individual RS gene groups (proliferation gene group, human epidermal growth factor receptor
[HER]2 gene group, estrogen receptor [ER] gene group, invasion gene group, and other genes).

TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate the effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy vs hormonal therapy alone on
perceived cognitive impairment, fatigue, fear of recurrence among pre-menopausal patients,
endocrine symptoms and sexual dysfunction, and overall health-related quality of life (HRQL).

II. To determine whether perceived cognitive impairment, fatigue, fear of recurrence,
endocrine symptoms, and overall HRQL are similar for patients receiving chemotherapy plus
hormonal therapy in secondary study group 2 as for those in the primary study group (arm D vs
C).

III. To determine whether perceived cognitive impairment, fatigue, fear of recurrence,
endocrine symptoms, and overall HRQL are similar for patients receiving hormonal therapy
alone in secondary study group 1 as for those in the primary study group (arms A vs B).

IV. To determine whether age will be inversely associated with a fear of recurrence,
independent of treatment assignment.

V. Among participants receiving hormonal treatment alone on arm A and arm B, to determine
whether Oncotype DX Recurrence score will be inversely correlated with fear of recurrence.

VI. To create a biospecimen repository including plasma, serum and CellSearch cassettes
containing circulating tumor cells (CTC) for evaluating determinants of late relapse,
including candidate biomarkers reflecting occult tumor burden (e.g., CTCs and plasma tumor
DNA) and host factors (e.g., estrogen, insulin growth factor-[IGF] axis, inflammation, etc).

VII. To create a biorepository of metastatic tumor samples in patients who have had a late
relapse.

VIII. To determine body mass index (BMI) and comorbidity burden in patients with operable
breast cancer five or more years after diagnosis.

IX. To determine whether there is a relationship between late relapse and BMI at diagnosis
and at 5 years after diagnosis, and whether BMI-associated inflammatory and/or metabolic
biomarkers are associated with early and late recurrence.

OUTLINE: This is a partially randomized study. Patients are assigned to 1 of 3 treatment
groups.

GROUP 1 (SECONDARY STUDY GROUP 1; ONCOTYPE DX RECURRENCE SCORE [ODRS] =< 10): Patients
receive standard hormonal therapy (e.g., tamoxifen alone orally (PO), aromatase inhibitor
[e.g., anastrozole, letrozole, or exemestane] alone PO, or tamoxifen PO followed by aromatase
inhibitor PO) at the discretion of the treating physician for 5 or 10 years.

GROUP 2 (PRIMARY STUDY GROUP; ODRS 11-25): Patients are randomized to receive either hormonal
therapy alone or combination chemotherapy and hormonal therapy.

ARM I (EXPERIMENTAL): Patients receive hormonal therapy as in Group 1 at the discretion of
the treating physician.

ARM II (STANDARD): Patients receive standard combination chemotherapy at the discretion of
the treating physician. Within 4 weeks after the last dose of chemotherapy, patients receive
hormonal therapy as in Group 1 at the discretion of the treating physician.

GROUP 3 (SECONDARY STUDY GROUP 2; ODRS >= 26): Patients receive combination chemotherapy as
in Group 2, Arm II followed by hormonal therapy as in Group 1.

Patients in all groups who have had breast-conservation surgery are also treated with
radiotherapy. Radiotherapy should begin within 4 weeks of registration for patients receiving
hormonal therapy alone or within 8 weeks after completion of chemotherapy. Patients
participating in National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) and/or Radiation
Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) partial irradiation trial(s) may receive partial breast
radiation.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3-6 months for 5 years
and then annually for 15 years.

Outcome Measures

Outcome measures are the tests that investigators perform to prove whether or not a treatment being tested in a clinical trial is having any effect.

Inclusion Criteria:

  -  Patients with operable histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the female breast
     who have completed primary surgical treatment and meet the following criteria:

       -  ER and/or progesterone receptor (PR)-positive: Estrogen and/or progesterone
          receptor positive disease (as defined by local pathology laboratory)

       -  Negative axillary nodes: As assessed by a sentinel lymph node biopsy, an axillary
          dissection, or both, and as defined by the Sixth Edition of the American Joint
          Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging criteria

       -  Tumor size 1.1-5.0 cm (or 5 mm-1.0 cm plus unfavorable histological features):

            -  Unfavorable features defined as intermediate or poor nuclear and/or
               histologic grade, or lymphovascular invasion

            -  NOTE: Definition of tumor size: The tumor size used for determination of
               eligibility is the pathologic tumor size, which is usually determined by the
               size of the tumor as measured by inspection of the gross specimen; if the
               tumor size is measured microscopically and the tumor includes ductal
               carcinoma in-situ, the measurement should include only the invasive
               component of the tumor

       -  The tumor must be human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2)/neu negative by
          either fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) or immunohistochemistry (e.g. 0
          or 1+ by DAKO Herceptest)

  -  The patient and physician must be agreeable to initiate standard chemotherapy and
     hormonal therapy as adjuvant therapy

  -  A tissue specimen from the primary breast cancer has been located and is ready to be
     shipped to the appropriate laboratory after consent is obtained and within 3 days
     following pre-registration; NOTE: For determination of the Oncotype Recurrence Score,
     tissue must be shipped to Genomic Health; if the Oncotype DX Recurrence Score was
     previously performed by Genomic Health (prior to pre-registration), tissue must be
     submitted to the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG)-American College of
     Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) Central Biorepository and Pathology Facility upon
     randomization

  -  Leukocyte count >= 3500/mm^3

  -  Platelets >= 100,000/mm^3

  -  Serum creatinine =< 1.5 mg/dL

  -  Serum aspartate transaminase (AST) that is =< 3-fold the upper institutional limits of
     normal

  -  Patients must be disease-free of prior invasive malignancies for >= 5 years with the
     exception of curatively-treated basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or
     carcinoma in situ of the cervix; patients with a previous ipsilateral or contralateral
     invasive breast cancer, or with bilateral synchronous cancers, are not eligible;
     patients with previous ipsilateral or contralateral ductal in situ carcinoma (DCIS)
     are not eligible

  -  Prior treatment

       -  Mandatory prior surgery criteria:

            -  Patient must pre-register within 84 days from the final surgical procedure
               required to adequately treat the primary tumor (please note that if margins
               are not clear and a resection has to be conducted after pre-registration but
               before randomization, the patient will be deemed to be within the 84 day
               window allowed by protocol and therefore eligible)

            -  All tumors should be removed by either a mastectomy or local excision plus
               an acceptable axillary procedure (i.e., sentinel lymph node biopsy, axillary
               dissection, or both); there must be adequate (at least 1 mm if margin width
               specified) tumor-free margins of resection (for invasive and ductal
               carcinoma in-situ) in order for the patients to be eligible; patients with
               lobular carcinoma in-situ involving the resection margins are eligible

       -  Criteria re: other prior treatments:

            -  No prior chemotherapy for this malignancy

            -  No prior radiation therapy for this malignancy; this includes no prior
               MammoSite Brachytherapy radiation therapy (RT)

            -  Hormonal therapy: Patients who develop breast cancer while receiving a
               selective estrogen-receptor modulator (SERM; e.g., tamoxifen, toremifene,
               raloxifene) or an aromatase inhibitor (e.g., anastrazole, letrozole,
               exemestane) for breast cancer prevention or a SERM for other indications
               (e.g., raloxifene for osteoporosis) are not eligible; however, patients may
               have received up to 8 weeks of a SERM or aromatase inhibitor for this
               malignancy and still be eligible for study entry

  -  Patients must have an anticipated life expectancy of at least 10 years

  -  Patients with the following medical conditions should not be enrolled on the study:

       -  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring treatment

       -  Chronic liver disease (e.g., cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis)

       -  Previous history of a cerebrovascular accident

       -  History of congestive heart failure or other cardiac disease that would represent
          a contraindication to the use of an anthracycline (e.g., doxorubicin or
          epirubicin)

       -  Chronic psychiatric condition or other condition that would impair compliance
          with the treatment regimen

  -  Women must not be pregnant or breast-feeding; all females of childbearing potential
     must have a blood test or urine study within 2 weeks prior to pre-registration to rule
     out pregnancy

       -  Women of childbearing potential must be strongly advised to utilize an accepted
          and effective form of non-hormonal contraception (e.g. intrauterine device,
          condoms, diaphragm, abstinence)

  -  Patients must not have previously had the Oncotype DX Assay performed, with the
     exception of patients who have had the assay performed and have a recurrence score of
     11-25