LOS ANGELES, Aug 3 ― American comedian Kathy Griffin said on Monday that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer although she has never been a smoker.

Griffin, 60, said in social media postings that she would undergo surgery to remove part of a lung, and that doctors were optimistic about the outcome.

"I have cancer. I’m about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed. Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked!” Griffin wrote.

"The doctors are very optimistic as it is stage one and contained to my left lung,” she added.

Griffin, a two-time Emmy winner, has been out of the spotlight since 2017, when she lost jobs and sponsorships after posing with a fake severed head depicting then-US President Donald Trump in what was intended to be a joke. The Secret Service opened an investigation into the incident but no legal action was taken against Griffin. ― Reuters