- Patients must have 0-3 positive axillary lymph nodes to be eligible for this study; patients with node-negative breast cancer should have sufficiently "high risk" disease to warrant chemotherapy; as general guidelines, node-negative patients with tumors of >= 1 cm or estrogen or progesterone receptor negative tumors of any size may be eligible; ultimately though, the definition of "high risk" may be determined by the treating physician, and if the treating physician feels the patient warrants chemotherapy, the patient is eligible; for patients with 1-3 positive axillary nodes, the patient is eligible regardless of primary breast tumor characteristics, if in the opinion of the treating physician, chemotherapy is deemed potentially beneficial to the patient