TGF-BETA INHIBITORS AND USE THEREOF

1 .- 21 . (canceled)

22 . A method for determining a circulating TGFβ level in a blood sample or sample derived therefrom, comprising:

(a) processing the blood sample or sample derived from blood at a temperature of 2-8° C. in a sample tube comprising an anticoagulant, wherein the anticoagulant comprises a citrate-theophylline-adenosine-dipyridamole (CTAD) solution; and

(b) carrying out one or more centrifugation steps; and/or carrying out a centrifugation protocol comprising a first centrifugation and a second centrifugation, and

(c) measuring a level of platelet factor 4 (PF4) in the blood sample or sample derived therefrom.

23 . The method of 22, wherein the one or more centrifugation steps are carried out at a speed of greater than 100×g or below 15000×g.

24 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the first centrifugation of step (b) is slower than the second centrifugation.

25 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the first and second centrifugations of step (b) comprise:

(i) 10 minutes at 150×g and 20 minutes at 2500×g;

(ii) 10 minutes at 2500×g and 20 minutes at 2500×g; or

(iii) 10 minutes at 1500×g and 5 minutes at 12000×g.

26 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the anticoagulant comprises 0.11 M buffered trisodium citrate solution, 15 M theophylline, 3.7 M adenosine, and 0.198 M dipyridamole, and wherein the anticoagulant has a pH of about 5.0.

27 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the sample is used for determining a circulating TGFβ level only if the PF4 level in the sample is less than 500 ng/ml.

28 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the circulating TGFβ is circulating latent TGFβ1.

29 . A method for treating cancer in a subject, comprising:

(i) determining a level of circulating TGFβ in a blood sample from the subject according to the method of claim 22 ;

(ii) administering to the subject a therapeutically effective dose of a TGFβ inhibitor;

(iii) determining a further level of circulating TGFβ in a blood sample from the subject; and

(iv) administering a further therapeutically effective dose of the TGFβ inhibitor if the level of circulating TGFβ in step (iii) is increased as compared to the level of circulating TGFβ in step (i);

wherein the increase is at least 1.5-fold.

30 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising administering a checkpoint inhibitor and/or a genotoxic therapy.

31 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the checkpoint inhibitor is an anti-PD-1 antibody, an anti-PD-L1 antibody, an anti-CTLA-4-antibody, an anti-LAG3 antibody, or an antigen-binding fragment thereof; and wherein the genotoxic therapy is a chemotherapy or a radiation therapy.

32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein the chemotherapy is a PARP inhibitor therapy.

33 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the subject has an advanced cancer and/or a solid cancer.

34 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the advanced cancer and/or the solid cancer is selected from melanoma, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, uterine cancer, stomach cancer, head and neck cancer, urothelial carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, thyroid cancer, and tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT).

35 . The method of claim 34 , wherein the melanoma is metastatic melanoma; the renal cell carcinoma, the breast cancer is triple-negative breast cancer or HER2-positive breast cancer; the colorectal cancer is microsatellite stable-colorectal cancer or colon adenocarcinoma; the lung cancer is metastatic non-small cell lung cancer or small cell lung cancer; the kidney cancer is transitional cell carcinoma, renal sarcoma, or renal cell carcinoma (RCC); the uterine cancer is uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma or prostate cancer; the stomach cancer is gastric cancer; and the head and neck cancer is head and neck squamous cell cancer; and

wherein the RCC is clear cell RCC, papillary RCC, chromophobe RCC, collecting duct RCC, or unclassified RCC.

36 . A method for treating a proliferative disorder in a subject, comprising:

(i) determining a level of P-Smad2 nuclear translocation in a biopsy sample from the subject;

(ii) administering to the subject a therapeutically effective dose of a TGFβ inhibitor;

(iii) further determining a level of the P-Smad2 nuclear translocation in a biopsy sample from the subject; and

(iv) administering a further therapeutically effective dose of the TGFβ inhibitor if the further determined level of P-Smad2 nuclear translocation of step (iii) is decreased compared to the level of P-Smad2 determined in step (i);

wherein the decrease is at least 1.3-fold.

37 . The method of 36, wherein the level of P-Smad2 nuclear translocation is determined by immunohistochemistry and nuclear masking analysis.

38 . A method for identifying an mMDSC population and a gMDSC population from a biological sample obtained from a subject comprising detection of cell surface markers comprising:

(i) applying a CD15+/CD66b high filter; and

(ii) applying a CD15+/CD66b high /CD14 − /CD33 low /HLADR − /CD11 b + filter;

wherein the mMDSC population is identified by the cell surface markers of CD11 b+, HLA−DR−/low, CD14+, CD15−, CD33+/high, and CD66b−; and wherein the gMDSC population is identified by the cell surface markers of CD11 b+, HLA−DR−, CD14−, CD15+, CD33+/low, and CD66b+.