A new Irish-led study which is investigating why obesity makes prostate cancer more aggressive has received a significant funding boost.

The number of men in Ireland being diagnosed with cancer of the prostate jumped from 1,162 in 1995 to 3,122 in 2010. Around 500 men die as a result of the disease every year.

Worldwide, this is the second most common cancer found in men, and in 2008, Ireland had the highest estimated incidence of the disease in Europe and the third highest incidence around the world.

While the incidence of the disease has been growing, so too has the incidence of obesity.

This new study, which is being led by researchers from Trinity College Dublin's School of Medicine, aims to investigate why obesity appears to make this type of cancer more aggressive. It is also examining whether a simple exercise programme can improve the quality of life and prolong the survival of patients with advanced prostate cancer.

To help with this, the researchers have received a grant of €300,000 from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

According to Dr Stephen Finn of Trinity College, who is also a consultant pathologist at St James's Hospital in Dublin, in men with advanced prostate cancer, individual cancer cells ‘spread beyond the prostate gland and can be found floating in the blood'.

"These cancer cells are known as ‘circulating tumour cells' or CTCs. Tiny blood particles (platelets) become stuck to these CTCs in a process called ‘platelet cloaking' and may prevent the body's immune system from hunting down and killing the cancer cells before they can spread around the body.

"There is a greater tendency for blood to clot, due to stickier platelets, in obesity. This suggests that there may be more platelet cloaking of CTCs in overweight men with prostate cancer, which in turn makes the cancer more aggressive," he explained.

The study is investigating whether there is more platelet cloaking of CTCs in men with prostate cancer who are overweight compared to men who are a healthy weight.

It is also investigating whether exercise can reduce this platelet cloaking and improve quality of life.

"Both obesity and prostate cancer are becoming a lot more common and the relationship between the two in an individual patient is becoming more important.

"We hope to show that a simple, low-cost exercise programme can improve quality of life and prolong life for advanced prostate cancer patients, and hopefully reduce the bad effects of being overweight on cancer outlook for these men," Dr Finn said.

He described this project as ‘hugely significant'.

Two-hundred men from three European cities, including Dublin, will take part in the study, which is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Orebro in Sweden and King's College London in the UK.