After years of being told cancer prevention drugs were too risky and took too long to get approved, one University of Arizona professor knew he could get the job done.

That's why Eugene Gerner, a UA professor of cell biology and anatomy, recently won approval from the Arizona Board of Regents to take research from the lab and use it to form Tucson-based Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals.

He's doing so along with Frank L. Meyskens Jr., a professor of medicine at the University of California-Irvine.

The new UA spinoff company is developing Eflornithine, a drug meant for colon-cancer prevention, rather than treatment.

UC-Irvine and the UA hold the patent for Eflornithine and will receive a portion of its profits.

"Cancer is the No. 1 cause of death in the United Sates and is so costly to treat," Gerner said. "Cancer prevention will have the direct effect of lowering medical costs."

The costs associated with colon cancer are high and the disease kills thousands every year. In 2005, 141,405 Americans were diagnosed with colon cancer and 54,040 people died of the disease, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The new drug, which is several years away from reaching the market, will be inexpensive and minimally toxic compared with cancer-treatment drugs, Gerner said.

He sees the new company as part of the leading edge of a national trend to focus on preventing cancer rather than just treating it.

"The drug is novel because there is little in the area of cancer prevention," said Nina Ossanna, director of business development and strategic planning for the UA's Bio5 Institute, the university's cross-campus genetics institute.

"I'd love to see companies like this become the new trend."

Eflornithine prevents cancer by disrupting synthesis of polyamines, a compound associated with abnormal cell growth and cancer in adults.

In April, Gerner and Meyskens announced that the combination of Eflornithine and Sulindac, an anti-inflammatory drug, reduced the risk of recurrent colorectal polyps by 95 percent with minimal toxicity. Colorectal polyps are a major precursor to colon cancer.

The clinical trial was so successful that an independent data- and safety-monitoring board ended the trial early.

But the drug's effectiveness doesn't stop at colon cancer. Gerner said it may also benefit women with breast cancer.

Final approval of the spinoff deal is expected soon.

Until the new company can find a permanent space in Tucson, it is operating out of Gerner's house. He said the company is in the process of bringing on employees and a chief operating officer.

"Cancer is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States and is so costly to treat. Cancer prevention will have the direct effect of lowering medical costs."