THOUSANDS of women with breast cancer could be spared chemotherapy if they were offered gene tests which show whether their disease is likely to spread, a major trial has found.

The British study suggests that up to 5,000 women a year could avoid the toxic treatment, which can cause nausea and fatigue, through wider use of genetic risk profiling.

Currently a test called Oncotype DX is offered to around 9,000 patients a year by the NHS when disease has not spread to the lymph nodes.

But the new study suggests that the tests could also be used to tailor treatment for around 10,000 patients in whom disease has progressed, identifying which cases require chemotherapy and which can be helped by hormone therapy alone.

Scientists said the research by The Royal Marsden Hospital could mean around 5,000 such women are spared chemotherapy, and its associated side-effects.

Charities said the results were “promising” - but said further research was needed to assess the long-term outcomes of patients who were put only on hormone treatment.

The study examined the use of the tests on breast cancer which is oestrogen receptor positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER 2-), where disease had spread to be between one and three lymph nodes.