Data on the long-term symptom burden in patients surviving oesophageal cancer surgery are scarce.

The aim of this study was to identify the most prevalent symptoms and their interactions with health-related quality of life.

This was a cross-sectional cohort study of patients who underwent oesophageal cancer surgery in 20 European centres between 2010 and 2016. Patients had to be disease-free for at least 1 year.

They were asked to complete a 28-symptom questionnaire at a single time point, at least 1 year after surgery.

Principal component analysis was used to assess for clustering and association of symptoms. Risk factors associated with the development of severe symptoms were identified by multivariable logistic regression models.