The human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes most cervical cancers, can significantly increase the risk of developing throat cancer, according to a new study published by the University of New South Wales.

People infected with HPV, which can also be spread through intercourse as well as oral sex, were three times as likely to develop esophageal cancer than those who were not infected. The study was published in the online journal of PLOS One.

The study compared patients with esophageal cancer to those without it and found that more than a third of those who had oropharyngeal cancers also carried antibodies to one of HPV's key cancer causing proteins, E6.

Researchers at Oxford estimate that approximately seven percent of non-smoking women and 23 percent of non-smoking men who carry E6 will develop oropharyngeal cancer over the next 10 years.

The research showed a "robust" association between HPV and esophageal cancer, said co-author Raina MacIntyre, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the university.

HPV is the most commonly sexually transmitted disease and is spread through genital contact, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. Each year an estimated 26,200 new cancer cases are caused by HPV.

Vaccines such as Gardsil which protect against the two most common cancer-causing HPV types are now recommended for girls and young women ages 9 to 26 in the U.S.

Actor Michael Douglas has spoken openly about his esophageal cancer. Douglas was diagnosed in 2010, and recently said in an interview that his cancer came from HPV.

Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer in the world and is responsible for an estimated 400,000 deaths worldwide, researchers said in the study.