KEY POINTS
- This cross-sectional Dutch cohort included 72 patients with stage I–III anal squamous cell carcinoma who completed patient-reported outcome measures at least six months after chemoradiotherapy; median assessment time was 21.7 months after treatment.
- Outcomes were compared with 216 age-, sex-, and comorbidity-matched individuals without cancer using a 1:3 matching ratio.
- Global health status was lower after chemoradiotherapy than in matched controls (68.5 vs 78.5; p<0.001), and all functioning domains showed clinically relevant reductions of at least 10 points.
- Social functioning showed the largest deficit (73.1 vs 94.7; difference 21.6 points; p<0.001), while fatigue and diarrhoea were the only core symptom domains exceeding the predefined threshold for clinical relevance.
- Among patients without a stoma who completed the bowel-function questionnaire, 62% reported major low anterior resection syndrome; urinary frequency, flatulence, urgency, pain, and embarrassment related to defecation remained prominent symptoms.
CLINICAL TAKEAWAY
Long-term follow-up after chemoradiotherapy for anal squamous cell carcinoma should include systematic assessment of bowel, urinary, functional, and psychosocial symptoms rather than surveillance for recurrence alone. The findings support proactive supportive care and clearer pretreatment counselling, but the cross-sectional design, limited baseline data, and potential selection bias prevent causal conclusions.