Origins of cancer symposium report: beyond the tumor cell

The Origins of Cancer Symposium is a meeting organized by graduate students at the Van Andel Research Institute and serves as a forum for focused discussion on factors that contribute to the etiology of cancer. The theme for the fifth annual Origins of Cancer held on July 11th, 2014 was Beyond the Tumor Cell, which focused on the complex influences coming from the environment in which the cancer cell exists. Here we report on the meeting proceedings and briefly discuss the far-reaching implications.