OUTLINE: Patients are stratified by tumor expression of HER2 (overexpression vs normal). Patients receive a loading dose of monoclonal antibody HER2 (Herceptin) intravenously over 90 minutes on day 0. Paclitaxel is administered intravenously over 1 hour on day 1. Starting on day 7, patients receive paclitaxel by infusion over 1 hour every 7 days. Monoclonal antibody HER2 is administered intravenously over 30 minutes immediately following paclitaxel every 7 days. Treatment continues in the absence of disease progression and unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed until death.