The concept of GLYCANC is based on the idea that proteoglycans and their carbohydrate chains are capable of modulating all key steps of tumor progression, the so-called 'Hallmarks of Cancer'. On May 16, 2017, Prof. Robert Weinberg (Whitehead Institute, Cambridge MA), co-author of the famous publication in the journal Cell followed an invitation to Münster and gave a lecture at the 9th International Meeting of the Stem Cell network NRW, in a session chaired by GLYCANC coordinator Martin Götte. His novel ideas on the role of the tumor microenvironment in cancer stem cell function were well received by the audience.