One third of people suffering from throat cancer are infected with a form of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a study has suggested.

More than 100 types of HPV are there and there are two HPV strains that are likelier to cause cancer - HPV-16 and HPV-18.

HPV-16 is believed to be responsible for about 60 percent of cervical cancers, 80 percent of cancers in the anus and 60 percent of oral cancers.

The new study observed HPV`s link with cancer of the back of the throat - oropharyngeal cancer .


In the study, the researchers looked at blood test results collected from people who took part in a huge prospective study into lifestyle and cancer, who were healthy at the beginning.

They compared blood test results of 135 people, who went on to develop throat cancer, and for 1,599 people free of cancer.

The University of Oxford team found 35 percent of those with throat cancer had the antibodies, compared with fewer than 1 percent of those who were cancer-free, the BBC reported.

The study has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.