RATIONALE: Studying quality-of-life, employment, and informal care costs in patients having cancer treatment may help identify the intermediate- and long-term effects of treatment on patients with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying quality of life, employment, and informal care costs in women who are receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Primary

• Compare the degree and duration of symptoms that interfere with functioning in women with high-risk node-negative breast cancer treated with adjuvant cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin vs paclitaxel on protocol .
• Compare the employment consequences of cancer and its treatment on patients treated with these regimens and on their extended families.

Secondary

• Determine the baseline characteristics that are predictive of vulnerability to side effects that significantly interfere with functioning in patients treated with these regimens.
• Determine the relative importance of the reasons that patients decided to participate in protocol CALGB-40101 and how those reasons might change as a consequence of their experience with treatment.
• Compare the quality-adjusted life years in patients treated with these regimens.
• Determine the type and amount of informal care needs of patients treated with these regimens.
• Compare the economic consequences of these treatment regimens on employment and informal care needs in these patients.
• Determine whether specific identifiable clinical adverse events (i.e., neuropathy or fatigue) are associated with greater economic consequences in patients treated with these regimens.
• Determine factors predictive of a patient being employed during and after cancer treatment.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, companion study.

Patients complete quality of life, employment, and informal care cost questionnaires at baseline (before beginning treatment on protocol ), in weeks 5-6 and 9-10, and in months 9 and 18.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 280 patients will be accrued for this study within 1 year.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed invasive carcinoma of the breast
• Node-negative disease
• High-risk disease
• Registered on protocol
• Hormone receptor status:
• Any estrogen and/or progesterone receptor status

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age

• 18 and over

Sex:

• Female

Menopausal status:

• Premenopausal or postmenopausal

Performance status

• Not specified

Life expectancy

• Not specified

Hematopoietic:

• Not specified

Hepatic

• Not specified

Renal

• Not specified

Other:

• Able to communicate in English

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy

• Not specified

Chemotherapy:

• Not specified

Endocrine therapy:

• Not specified

Radiotherapy

• Not specified

Surgery

• Not specified