Health‐related quality of life of single items and scales over time measured with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ‐C30 questionnaire for subgroups (right‐sided resection, left‐sided resection, and rectal resection). A lower score means less symptoms. For a more visually suitable display of the results, the scale ranges from 0 to 40. The actual scale ranges from 0 to 100. Between‐group analyses: *significant difference between patients that underwent right‐sided and left‐sided resection. **significant difference between patients that underwent right‐sided and rectal resection. ***significant difference between patients that underwent left‐sided and rectal resection. Within‐group analyses: asignificant difference baseline, 4‐week follow‐up; bsignificant difference baseline, 1‐year follow‐up; csignificant difference baseline, 2‐year follow‐up; dsignificant difference 4‐week, 1‐year follow‐up; esignificant difference 4‐week, 2‐year follow‐up. Analyses were adjusted for: age, time between diagnosis and baseline, number of comorbid conditions, tumor stage, (neo)adjuvant therapy, surgical approach, and stoma