Some questions...

First of all let me thank you for your help last week with my
question. I'm now going to see a doctor about it early next week.
Now in the meantime I have some questions which I hope you'll be able to answer.

I realize statistics are in my favor (since I'm both male and young (21 yrs)), though I'm still worried. As I mentioned in my first post I can feel two hard masses, a relatively big one (I'd guess about 3cm in lenght) underneath my nipple area in my left breast and a relatively small one (also about 3 cm in length but only about third of the height of the other one) underneath my nipple area in my right breast. Now since I first became aware of this the right one has stayed more or less the same (as far as I can tell), but I'm fairly certain it has expanded a little since then. I can feel at the bottom of the mass that it's "stretched" a little. Could this be a sign that it is indeed some form of cancer? Also, what has got me worried the most are still the small lumps on my left rib section. There are a few of them on the lower part of left rib sections (note I can move them around a little). Assuming I had some kind of breast cancer could that cancer have spread to that part of my body? Or does breast cancer only spread to organs?

Finally, I've read on various sites that male breast cancer can be caused by hormonal imballances, could you tell me some sure signs of hormonal imballances? And since I'm a little overweight, could the fat in my breasts have act (assuming I had breast cancer) as some kind of buffer zone, delaying the time the cancer needs to spread?

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear Karel, The only way of knowing if this is indeed a cancer problem and not related to a benign (non-cancerous) condition is to have it further examined, possibly biopsied.  Cancer generally spreads through the blood or lymphatic system, this is why frequent sites of metastasis are the lymph nodes, organs, or bone.  Fat is not involved in the metastatic process of breast cancer, and would not be a buffer to prevent spread.

Hormones are chemical substances in the body secreted by various glands (for example: thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, testis) that have an effect on other tissues or organs throughout the body.  Hormonal imbalances can produce various symptoms depending on the function of the specific hormone.   When you are examined by the physician they will discuss with you any other symptoms you may have and combining that information with your physical exam may give a clue as to a possible link between what you may be experiencing and a hormonal imbalance.