Scientists believe they have made a breakthrough in potentially providing a test for ageing.
The discovery could lead to slowing the ageing process as well as being used to predict cancer survival.
The study was co-ordinated by Dr Salvador Macip, from the Mechanisms of Cancer and Ageing Lab and the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Leicester.
It was carried out to find new ways of identifying old cells in the body.
Scientists said this is important because the accumulation of old cells - known as senescent - in human tissue can contribute to symptoms of ageing.
But old cells can also appear as a result of the activation of the body trying to fight cancer.
Dr Macip said: "What we have found is a series of novel markers – a way to detect senescent cells.
"What is more, we have shown that they can be used to predict increased survival in certain types of cancer.
"Until now, good protocols to help spot these cells have been sadly lacking."
He added: "Our research has described new markers located on the surface of the old cells.
"This makes these markers particularly useful to quickly identify these cells in laboratory and human samples using a range of techniques."
Researchers found the markers were present in high numbers in samples from different types of cancer.
In turn, these correlated to longer survival from the disease.
This was particularly evident in patients with breast cancer.
Dr Macip said: "These markers could be useful not only to study senescent cells in the laboratory but also they could be developed into diagnostics to help predict survival in cancer patients.
"Moreover, they could also be used in the future to define strategies to selectively eliminate the old cells from the tissues and thus reduce their effects on promoting ageing in healthy subjects."
The work was funded by the Medical Research Council, the University of Leicester, the Saudi Arabian Government and involved scientists from the Departments of Biochemistry and Cancer Studies of the University of Leicester, the Umm AL-Qura University and the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The research, which has shown promise in clinical samples, has been published in the scientific journal, Cell Death and Disease.
The research paper can be found at www.nature.com/cddis/journal/v5/n11/f