Defined Green Tea Catechin Extract in Treating Women With Hormone Receptor Negative Stage I-III Breast Cancer

Criteria:

* History of histologically confirmed stage I, II, or III breast carcinoma without evidence of disease at study entry
* No evidence of recurrent disease (patients with resected local recurrence are eligible)
* Normal mammogram of the contralateral breast within the past 12 months, defined as no new suspicious calcifications or other abnormal findings warranting a breast biopsy
* No history of histologically confirmed bilateral breast cancer
* No evidence of metastatic breast cancer
* Registered in the outpatient medical oncology clinic at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), or the Weill-Cornell campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP-WC)
* Hormone receptor status: Estrogen- and progesterone-receptor negative
* Menopausal status: Pre- or postmenopausal
* ECOG performance status \< 2 (Karnofsky \> 60%)
* Leukocytes \>= 3,000/uL
* Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/uL
* Platelets \>= 100,000/uL
* Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits
* AST/ALT =\< 2.5 times institutional upper limit of normal
* Serum creatinine within normal institutional limits
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Women of child-bearing potential must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation
* No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to green tea extract (Polyphenon E), such as green tea food products or supplements containing EGCG
* No history of gastrointestinal bleeding including, but not limited to, any of the following: Diverticulosis; Peptic ulcer disease; Erosive gastritis; Varices
* No uncontrolled or significant co-morbid illness including, but not limited to, any of the following: active or serious infection requiring intravenous antibiotics; symptomatic congestive heart failure; unstable angina pectoris; cardiac arrhythmia; active gastrointestinal bleeding; active liver disease; psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
* No active malignancy, except for squamous cell carcinoma of the skin; basal cell carcinoma of the skin; carcinoma in situ; stage IA or IB invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix treated by surgery and/or radiation therapy; or stage IA grade 1 adenocarcinoma of the endometrium treated by surgery
* At least 6 months since prior chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and/or breast surgery
* No prior radiation therapy or implant in the contralateral breast
* More than 30 days since prior and no concurrent medications, herbs, or vitamin and mineral supplements that contain tea compounds or caffeine
* At least 30 days since prior and no other concurrent investigational agents
* At least 30 days since prior and no concurrent tea consumption
* Willing to limit regular coffee consumption to =\< three 8-ounce cups per day for 30 days prior to baseline evaluation and during the study intervention
* Total daily caffeine consumption should not exceed 375 mg/day
* No concurrent hormone replacement therapy, tamoxifen, or raloxifene
* Concurrent oral contraceptives allowed provided the dose has not been changed for at least 6 months prior to study entry
* No concurrent chemotherapy or radiation therapy