The upregulated expression of RSPO3, ADAMTS8 and DOCK8 was associated with the overall survival (all P < 0.05) and disease-free survival of adenocarcinoma patients (all P < 0.05, Fig. 13), which indicated that RSPO3, ADAMTS8 and DOCK8 might influence the prognosis of adenocarcinoma. Here, RSPO3 is linked to adenocarcinoma.