OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to prior adjuvant therapy (none vs less than 6 months vs at least 6 months), estrogen receptor (ER) status and progesterone receptor (PR) status at initial diagnosis (ER positive/PR positive or unknown vs ER positive/PR negative vs ER positive or unknown/PR negative), menopausal status (pre vs post), and performance status (0 or 1 vs 2). Patients are assigned to 1 of 2 treatment schedules.