Angelo Carretta1, Jin Ye Yeo2
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Carlo Poma Hospital, Mantova, Italy; 2CCTS Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. CCTS Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: ccts@amegroups.com
This interview can be cited as: Carretta A, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of CCTS: Dr. Angelo Carretta. Curr Chall Thorac Surg. 2025. Available from: https://ccts.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-ccts-dr-angelo-carretta.
Expert introduction
Dr. Angelo Carretta (Figure 1) is a thoracic surgeon, head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Carlo Poma Hospital in Mantova, Italy. Dr. Carretta earned his MD at the University of Parma, Italy and completed his residency in thoracic Surgery at the University of Milan, Italy, where he also earned his PhD. He spent most of his career at the Thoracic Surgery Unit of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute of Milan, Italy as Head of the Thoracic Endoscopy service, and Associate Professor of Thoracic Surgery - Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Director of the Residency program.
Dr. Carretta's main clinical and research interests include mini-invasive surgery, lung cancer, emphysema surgery, tracheal diseases, pleural mesothelioma and operative bronchoscopy. He is board certified by the Italian Board of Thoracic Surgery and European Board of Thoracic Surgeons and is a member of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery (EACTS), the Italian Thoracic Surgery and Italian Thoracic Endoscopy societies.
Figure 1 Dr. Angelo Carretta
Interview
CCTS: What inspired you to pursue a career in thoracic surgery, and what attracted you to minimally invasive surgery?
Dr. Carretta: During my cardiothoracic residency, I decided to become a thoracic surgeon and specialize in lung and airway surgery since it is a very stimulating activity, encompassing the surgical treatment of a variety of diseases, from neoplastic to infectious and post-traumatic. Furthermore, I was also interested in pulmonary pathophysiology. During the early period of my career, the surgical treatment of chest diseases switched from open surgical approaches to minimally-invasive techniques, first video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and then robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS). This allowed me to acquire new technical skills, offering less invasive and effective treatments to the patients. Nevertheless, I consider having the opportunity to train both in open and minimally-invasive techniques to be extremely important, an issue that should be taken into due consideration in the training of young surgeons, who are native in VATS and RATS.
CCTS: Lung cancer remains a primary focus of your clinical and research interests. How has the approach to treating lung cancer changed during your career, and what current trends or technologies are you most excited about in this area?
Dr. Carretta: We live in an era in which the paradigm of lung cancer treatment is rapidly evolving. The introduction of targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors into clinical practice has not only significantly improved survival in advanced lung cancer stages but has also shown promising results in locally advanced tumors. Although the role of these new therapeutic options still has to be assessed in earlier tumor stages, a significant impact on therapeutic strategy and the role of surgery in the treatment of lung cancer is to be expected in the near future. The change in the paradigm of lung cancer treatment is exemplified by the proposal of including tumor mutation profiles in the future TNM revisions. The present period is also exciting from a technical point-of-view, with the spread of robotic surgery and new video-assisted thoracoscopic approaches, together with the use of sublobar resections for the treatment of early-stage tumors. The use of new bronchoscopic and radiotherapy treatments will also certainly modify the therapeutic strategy for the treatment of lung cancer and thus the role of surgery in the near future.
CCTS: Emphysema surgery is also a key part of your clinical work. Could you share the most significant developments in emphysema surgery over recent years, and what are the challenges and opportunities in this area?
Dr. Carretta: The treatment of advanced emphysema has significantly changed in the last decades, from lung transplantation to lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) and bronchoscopic emphysema treatment (BLVR). Although the results obtained with LVRS and BLVR tend to decrease with time, they may offer significant quality-of-life improvements to the majority of the treated patients, reducing or delaying the need for lung transplantation. In the last years, the experience achieved has allowed to better define the ideal candidates for surgical and endoscopic techniques, which should be considered complementary rather that alternative options in the treatment of advanced emphysema. A better definition of the selection criteria also allowed a reduction in treatment-related morbidity. I also consider the possibility of extending the indications for surgical treatment of lung cancer in emphysematous patients to be a major success of emphysema treatments.
CCTS: As an Associate Professor, you play a pivotal role in educating the next generation of thoracic surgeons. What do you believe are the most important skills or knowledge that young surgeons need to master during their training?
Dr. Carretta: Teaching young surgeons is a privilege, and should be considered a two-way communication process, with the most experienced surgeon transmitting not only technical skills but also knowledge in the diagnostic process that leads to the indication to surgical treatment, and the younger surgeons sharing with the teacher the issues and expectations of the new generations. As said before, a thorough training should include not only minimally-invasive surgical techniques but also notions on traditional open approaches, which may still be required in emergency or elective complex operations. Ethical issues, communication skills, and competence in research are also extremely important and should have a main part in the teaching program.
CCTS: You are involved in multiple prestigious societies, such as EACTS and the Italian Thoracic Surgery Society. How do these professional organizations contribute to the advancement of thoracic surgery, and what role do you play in these societies?
Dr. Carretta: Surgical scientific societies have a primary role in the definition of guidelines and in the divulgation of the results of trials and new techniques. The use of online publication has allowed the acceleration and promotion of the dissemination of new information. In my opinion, the present primary role of society meetings is to offer the possibility of discussing in depth the results of new trials or techniques with the experts thanks to the possibility of a direct interaction with them and participating in the high-quality courses on specific topics that are offered by the scientific societies.
CCTS: Looking back on your career, what have been the most rewarding moments in both your clinical practice and your research?
Dr. Carretta: Acquiring new technical skills has certainly been a major achievement during my career. However, I consider patient satisfaction the greatest reward a surgeon may obtain from his career.
CCTS: How has your experience been as an Editorial Board Member of CCTS?
Dr. Carretta: Being part of such a qualified Editorial Board is a privilege. The possibility of taking part in the process of publication of high-level papers is a great pleasure and is of utmost importance in the further development of my professional skills.
CCTS: As an Editorial Board Member, what are your expectations for CCTS?
Dr. Carretta: I expect a bright future for CCTS, thanks to the quality of the journal, which will certainly lead to a further growth in the number of readers, as shown by the 2024 annual report results and by the inclusion of the journal in the WOS and Scopus citation indexes.