Age18 Years - 120 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
* Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the breast
* Stage IV disease
* Measurable or non-measurable disease
* Patients with HER2/neu-positive disease must have received prior trastuzumab (Herceptin®)
* No active brain metastases or leptomeningeal disease
* History of brain metastases allowed provided lesions are stable for at least 3 months as documented by head CT scan or MRI of the brain
* Hormone receptor status:
* Estrogen receptor- and progesterone receptor-negative\*
* Androgen receptor-positive\* NOTE: \*Samples are considered positive if greater than 10% of cell nuclei are immunoreactive
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
* Male or female
* Menopausal status not specified
* ECOG performance status 0-1
* Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm³
* Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
* Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
* AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times ULN
* Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 2.5 times ULN (unless bone metastases are present in the absence of liver metastases)
* Creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use effective contraception
* No serious medical or psychiatric illness
* No serious active infection
* No other malignancy within the past 5 years except nonmelanoma skin cancer
* No hypersensitivity reaction to bicalutamide or any of the tablet's components
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
* At least 2 weeks since prior cytotoxic chemotherapy and recovered
* At least 3 weeks since prior investigational drugs
* At least 4 weeks since prior major surgery and recovered
* Prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy allowed
* Any number of chemotherapy regimens are allowed for metastatic disease
* Prior hormonal therapy allowed
* No concurrent chemotherapy, other hormonal therapy, immunotherapy, or biological therapy
* No concurrent trastuzumab (Herceptin®)
* No concurrent enrollment in another clinical trial in which investigational procedures are performed or investigational therapies are administered