New OPAXIO and Tosedostat Data Selected for Oral Discussion Sessions at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting

SEATTLE, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) (NASDAQ and MTA: CTIC) announced that data from a study with OPAXIO™ (paclitaxel poliglumex or PPX), in patients with newly diagnosed high-grade gliomas, and interim results from a study of tosedostat in elderly patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia ("AML"), will be presented at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, which will be held June 3-7, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Both studies were selected for oral poster discussion sessions.

Suriya A. Jeyapalan, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neuro-Surgery at Brown University Oncology Group, an investigator on the OPAXIO study, is scheduled to present the data on Friday, June 3, 2011 during the Central Nervous System Tumors session that will be held from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., and the poster will be part of a oral discussion session from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Central Time. The presentation, abstract #2036, is titled, "A phase II study of paclitaxel poliglumex (PPX), temozolamide (TMZ), and radiation (RT) for newly diagnosed high-grade gliomas."

Jorge Cortes, M.D., of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, an investigator on the tosedostat study, is scheduled to present the data on Friday, June 3, 2011, during the Leukemia, Myelodysplasia, and Transplantation session that will be held from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., and the poster will also be included in a discussion session from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Central Time. The presentation, abstract #6517, is titled, "Interim results of OPAL, a study of tosedostat in elderly relapsed/refractory AML."

The study abstracts will be available at www.asco.org on May 18, 2011.

About OPAXIO™

OPAXIO™ (paclitaxel poliglumex, CT-2103), which was formerly known as XYOTAX™, is an investigational, biologically enhanced, chemotherapeutic that links paclitaxel, the active ingredient in Taxol®, to a biodegradable polyglutamate polymer, which results in a new chemical entity. When bound to the polymer, the chemotherapy is rendered inactive, potentially sparing normal tissue's exposure to high levels of unbound, active chemotherapy and its associated toxicities. Blood vessels in tumor tissue, unlike blood vessels in normal tissue, are porous to molecules like polyglutamate. Based on preclinical studies, it appears that OPAXIO is preferentially distributed to tumors due to their leaky blood vessels and trapped in the tumor bed allowing significantly more of the dose of chemotherapy to localize in the tumor than with standard paclitaxel. Once inside the tumor cell, enzymes metabolize the protein polymer, releasing the paclitaxel chemotherapy.

About Tosedostat

Tosedostat is an oral, aminopeptidase inhibitor that has demonstrated significant anti-tumor responses in blood-related cancers and solid tumors in phase I-II clinical trials. CTI has exclusive marketing and co-development rights to Chroma Therapeutics Ltd.'s drug candidate tosedostat in North, Central and South America.

About Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Headquartered in Seattle, CTI is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing an integrated portfolio of oncology products aimed at making cancer more treatable.

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This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, the outcome of which could materially and/or adversely affect actual future results. Specifically, the risks and uncertainties that could affect the development of OPAXIO and tosedostat include risks associated with preclinical and clinical developments in the biopharmaceutical industry in general and with OPAXIO and tosedostat in particular including, without limitation, the potential failure of OPAXIO to prove safe and effective for the treatment of gliomas, including newly diagnosed high-grade gliomas, the potential failure of tosedostat to prove safe and effective for the treatment of AML,  determinations by regulatory, patent, and administrative governmental authorities, competitive factors, technological developments, costs of developing, producing, and selling OPAXIO and tosedostat, and the risk factors listed or described from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, the Company's most recent filings on Forms 10-K, 8-K, and 10-Q. Except as may be required by law, CTI does not intend to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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SOURCE Cell Therapeutics, Inc.