I have had pain in the sternum and surrounding area which was diagnosed as "costalchondritis" in 2006. Symptoms are aggravated by any pushing, pulling, or lifting and I have found that I can not lay on either side for more than 10 minutes without enough discomfort that I have to move to my back. I too had several chest films over the past couple of years with negative findings. I do have a history of breast CA 27 years ago
so asked my family doctor for MRI/CT scans just to 'rule out' any undetected problems. CT of the chest revealed a large destructive mass under the sternum. CT guided needle biopsy a few days later revealed maglinancy and now I am awaiting final tests with oncologist to determine what treatments will be best. I urge everyone to pursue further treatment especially a CT of the chest which showed the mass where chest films failed to show anything amiss. Don't mean to scare anyone but early detection of a problem or a definite clean bill of health is worth more than all the money in the world.

I have read thru all these posts and have not found a clear answer to the initial post from back in 2003. I had the same problem as the initial poster recently and after reading thru several pages of internet medical descriptions and terminology I was able to convince myself that I had cancer. I went to see my doctor expecting the worst and he quickly evaluated me and stated everything was fine. He said that between the ages of 35 and 40 (I just turned 40 in Sept.) it is not uncommon for the xiphoid to begin to calcify and harden. He also stated that cases of sternal sarcoma are extremely rare and would present as a lumpy mass much like cauliflower under a piece of stretched plastic might feel. He also stated that a cancerous mass would not generally present midline but tends to be offset slightly or altogether out of place with the normal body structure. I have had no pain with the �¢ï¿½ï¿½mass� ¢ï¿½ï¿½ at the bottom of my sternum which I only noticed about 1 month ago. I have an appointment for a general follow up with my VA doctor on the 10th of this month and will also ask his opinion and report back to you his findings and comments.

I had an X-Ray, CT scan, and MRI and they could detect nothing. My Dr said my last resort to figure out what is going on is a General Surgeon-which I have not gone to yet.