Chemotherapy and/or Hormone Therapy With or Without Zoledronate in Treating Women With Stage II or Stage III Breast Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Diagnosis of primary breast cancer, meeting 1 of the following staging criteria:

  * Stage II
  * Stage III
  * T stage ≥ T1
* Receiving OR scheduled to receive chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy

  * For patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy

    * Tumor \> 5 cm (T3), features of locally advanced disease (T4), OR biopsy-proven lymph node involvement (N1)
    * Scheduled to proceed to definitive surgery and/or radical radiotherapy with curative intent within 6 months of starting neoadjuvant therapy
    * No more than 30 days between initiation of neoadjuvant therapy and start of study drug
  * For patients receiving adjuvant therapy

    * Must have undergone complete primary tumor resection and treatment of axillary lymph nodes\*
    * Must have lymph node involvement
    * No prior neoadjuvant therapy\*\*
    * No more than 60 days since prior definitive surgery NOTE: \*Patients whose treatment plan includes further primary tumor resection and/or treatment of the axillary lymph nodes (e.g., clearance or radiotherapy) with curative intent after completion of chemotherapy are eligible provided the treatment is completed within 9 months of study entry

NOTE: \*\*Preoperative endocrine therapy with a duration of \< 30 days is not considered prior neoadjuvant therapy

* No evidence of recurrent or metastatic disease
* No history of breast cancer, except ductal carcinoma in situ or lobular carcinoma in situ
* Hormone receptor status:

  * Not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

* 18 and over

Sex

* Female

Menopausal status

* Premenopausal or postmenopausal

Performance status

* Karnofsky 80-100% OR
* ECOG 0-1

Life expectancy

* Not specified

Hematopoietic

* Not specified

Hepatic

* Not specified

Renal

* Creatinine ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal

Other

* Not pregnant or nursing
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception
* No active dental problems, including dental abscess or infection of the jaw bone (e.g., maxilla or mandible)
* No prior or current diagnosis of osteonecrosis of the jaw
* No other malignancy within the past 5 years (including prior contralateral breast cancer) except nonmelanoma skin cancer or curatively treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix
* No history of disease with influence on bone metabolism, including any of the following:

  * Paget's disease of the bone
  * Primary hyperparathyroidism
  * Osteoporosis requiring treatment or likely to require treatment within the next 6 months
* No other severe physical or psychological disease that would preclude study compliance
* No known hypersensitivity to bisphosphonates

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Chemotherapy

* See Disease Characteristics

Endocrine therapy

* See Disease Characteristics

Radiotherapy

* See Disease Characteristics

Surgery

* See Disease Characteristics
* More than 4 weeks since prior and no concurrent dental or jaw surgery (e.g., extractions or implants)

  * Dental fillings, teeth scaling and polishing, or minor gingival surgery within the past 4 weeks are allowed

Other

* More than 1 year since prior bisphosphonates
* More than 30 days since prior investigational drugs
* No concurrent investigational drugs (i.e., not locally approved for any indication)