Taking a pill to prevent cancer may seem too good to be true, but scientists say it's one step closer to becoming a reality.

The groundbreaking discovery was made in a strange twist of fate while a doctor was trying to cure dwarfism in a village in Equador.

In the process of figuring out the source of laron dwarfism, Dr. Jamie Guevara of the Ecuador Institute of Endocrinology noticed none of his patients had cancer, despite the high rate of the disease in the region.

"I started noticing that somehow in this area that we all know in Equador are areas with high rates of cancer, but not one of these patients ever died of cancer," he said.

Guevara discovered that the same gene that prevented their bodies from growing also stopped diabetes and cancer from developing.

Although scientists had discovered cancer doesn't grow in mice with dwarfism, this was the first time the same observation had been made with people.

By the end of this year, scientists say experiments with the gene will begin on adults who are likely to get cancer or diabetes.