SouthCoast Health is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its High Risk Breast Cancer Clinic during the month of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Dr. Christa L. Jillard, who joined the practice on Sept. 1, 2015, leads the clinic, which became the first of its kind in Savannah.

The clinic's goals are early detection of women at high risk for breast cancer, to treat those at risk preventatively using a variety of measures and to use aggressive oncological treatments for those in need. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, with 1-in-8 women (12 percent) developing invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. More than 7,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in Georgia women in 2016, according to ACS estimates, and nearly 1,300 will die as a result of it.

Dr. Jillard said that she wants to be an advocate for women in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry. She recently became certified by medical technology company and surgical device manufacturer Invuity in its Hidden Scar surgical procedures, making her the only surgeon in Savannah with such a distinction.

"Being a female, I do have a strong interest in breast cancer," Dr. Jillard said. "I also feel I have an obligation as a female surgeon not only to relate to patients who have this – I have friends and family who have been afflicted with this disease – but to use my skillset to really make a difference. I see it as a great avenue and potential area for growth to make an impact on women here locally."

Women at high risk are those considered to have a five-year risk of developing breast cancer that is greater than 1.7 percent or those who have a lifetime risk of greater than 20 percent.