RATIONALE: Gathering information about cognitive function over time in postmenopausal women with breast cancer may help doctors learn about the long-term effects of aromatase inhibitor therapy and plan the best treatment.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying cognitive function in older postmenopausal women with stage I, stage II, or stage III breast cancer receiving hormone therapy and in healthy volunteers.

OBJECTIVES:

• Explore the impact of treatment with an aromatase inhibitor on the cognitive function of postmenopausal women with stage I-III breast cancer vs in cancer-free, age-matched healthy volunteers.

OUTLINE: Patients receive adjuvant anastrozole or letrozole in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients and healthy volunteers undergo cognitive function testing consisting of neuropsychological battery tests and complete self-reported questionnaires (e.g., Squire Memory Self-Rating Questionnaire, and FACT-B Quality of Life Measure) regarding cognitive ability, quality of life, fatigue, and psychosocial status. Patients and healthy volunteers also undergo geriatric assessment at baseline and after 6 months of initiation with aromatase inhibitor therapy.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Meets 1 of the following criteria:

  • Patient diagnosed with breast cancer

    • Stage I-III disease
    • Estrogen receptor- and/or progesterone receptor-positive
    • Planning to start treatment with anastrozole or letrozole

  • Age-matched healthy volunteer (control)

    • No history of breast cancer
    • Not receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Postmenopausal
• Able to converse, write, and read English
• No claustrophobia (patients participating in the PET scan correlative study)

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• No prior hormonal therapy, including estrogen replacement therapy
• No previous treatment with CNS radiation

Breast cancer patients and healthy control subjects