This randomized phase III trial studies cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin hydrochloride compared with paclitaxel as adjuvant therapy in treating breast cancer in women with 0-3 positive axillary lymph nodes. Giving additional cancer treatment after surgery may help to lower the risk that the cancer will come back (adjuvant therapy). Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin hydrochloride, and paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. It is not yet known whether the standard adjuvant therapy of cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin hydrochloride is more effective than paclitaxel in treating women with breast cancer