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Research suggests that antibodies against a high-risk strain of human papillomavirus (HPV) can appear in the body "decades" before throat cancer develops.
According to a study by the journal Annals of Oncology, anti-HPV16 antibodies were badociated with an increased risk of the disease and, in some cases, present in the blood up to 28 years before diagnosis.
The antibodies could be used to identify the patients most likely to develop throat cancer, said the international team of researchers.
However, they warned "there is a long way to go" before this is a possibility.
The HPV16 strain is linked to the development of several cancers, including the throat.
In the United States, about 70% of cases of throat cancer are attributable to HPV1, the researchers said, while smoking and alcohol were other causes of the disease.
Dr. Mattias Johansson, Principal Investigator at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, said: "In this study, we found that antibodies can sometimes develop decades before the diagnosis of cancer.
"If throat cancer rates continue to increase in the future, this biomarker could be a way to identify those at high risk of contracting the disease who may benefit from specific preventative measures."
The study included 743 patients with throat cancer and 5,814 people without.
All participants had provided at least one blood sample on which anti-HPV16 antibodies had been tested, over a period of 40 years.
Anti-HPV16 antibodies were present in more than a quarter (26.2%) of patients with throat cancer in the years preceding diagnosis, compared with only 0.4% of those without the disease.
These antibodies have been detected in patients between six and 28 years before diagnosis, the researchers said.
The study also revealed that the risk badociated with anti-HPV16 antibodies was greater in whites.
Antibodies were present in 27.2% of whites before the diagnosis of throat cancer, compared to only 7.7% of blacks.
"Future studies will focus on the most appropriate way to track people with positive HPV16 antibodies and the ability to identify precancerous lesions," said Dr. Johansson.
"In other words, there is still a long way to go before this biomarker can be used in clinical practice.
"While HPV vaccination is promising in preventing HPV-related cancers, we will not see any resulting reduction in throat cancer for many decades."
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