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A recent study published in Immunity on August 11, 2023 found that an immunotherapy drug called anti-CTLA-4 prolonged survival in a mouse model of mesenchymal-like glioblastoma. Anti-CTLA-4 was one of the first drugs designed to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, but it was quickly followed by another, anti-PD-1, that was less toxic and has become more widely used in clinical trials. Upon investigating why the anti-CTLA-4 therapy was more effective in this mouse study, researchers found that the drug prompted CD4+ T cells to secrete interferon gamma which activates microglia to 'eat' more tumor cells. Although promising, this is still early-stage research.