OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to type of chemotherapy (doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide vs doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide with taxane vs other anthracycline-based chemotherapy vs other non-anthracycline-based chemotherapy), age (18 to 49 vs 50 and over), menopausal status at start of therapy (premenopausal vs postmenopausal vs unknown for surgical reasons), and lymph node involvement (0-3 vs 4 or more). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.