Nancy Oppenheimer-Marks has a personal connection to breast cancer, so she's on top of detecting it. Her sister had breast cancer in 1999 and is cancer free now. 

Oppenheimer-Marks said, "I have very fibrous breasts, dense. There's a lot of stuff there that can interfere with the analysis of the mammogram."

The 3-D ultrasound detected this cyst, which doctors concluded was not cancerous. A mammogram may have not have delivered that news with certainty. In the past, these breast scans could only show a very flat view of the breast tissue, but the new 3d technology shows 500 different views.

"We can look at those images on a work station and manipulate them, turn them back and forth, up and down, look from side to side, look at the images in 3d -- and allow us to do a very wonderful screening," says radiologist, Dr. Phil Evans.

Doctors are careful to emphasize the technology doesn't take the place of the mammogram, but it supplements the screening. 

Nancy says she's grateful for these advancements -- and hoping one day -- for a cure. 

"Not only do we have the tools for the detection but if you detect early enough, you can treat this, don't die from breast cancer," says Oppenheimer-Marks. 

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.