AI-powered cancer detection program saves Suncoast woman’s life

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A Suncoast woman is crediting an artificial intelligence-powered early detection program with saving her life after it caught her lung cancer at an early stage.

Kelly Milligan was diagnosed in October 2025 after receiving tests for a separate condition. The AI system caught the cancer on her scans.

“I know this has saved my life, finding it so early,” Milligan said.

Milligan had been tracking her own health as a former smoker, getting a CT scan every year. She had received a scan in April 2024 and was told she could return in a year.

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“If I had waited a year, it would be now. It could be stage three. It could be inoperable,” Milligan said.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s early detection program uses an AI platform to scan more than 430,000 radiology reports a year to improve outcomes for lung cancer, the world’s deadliest cancer.

“We would never be able to catch as many without the AI. We do hundreds of thousands of scans here in our system, and so no one human being could ever pull out all of those lung nodules identified,” a hospital representative said. “But the AI filters all of the reports and identifies those key findings and then brings them to our attention so that we can then review them.”

For Milligan, her tumor grew in less than six weeks. After having it successfully removed, she is now in proactive treatment.

“My grandmother had cancer at 57. They took her lung and it reoccurred and she died when she was 60,” Milligan said. “And the amount of medical advancement between now and then in the last 40 years and saving my life in doing so, it’s amazing.”

Just 19 days after her surgery, Milligan returned to her active lifestyle and was back on the spin bike for early morning classes. She now looks forward to living a long and healthy life.

“I’ve already booked two cruises this year. My bucket list includes the hike from Spain to Portugal. I have France on my bucket list. My grandson graduates from college this year. My granddaughter graduates from high school next year,” Milligan said. “I want to see how they live their lives. I want to be here fully and I want to see the world, have my family, live my life.”

Milligan remains in treatment but said she refuses to let it slow her down.