Kathy Griffin reveals she has cancer and will have half of her left lung removed in surgery

• Comedian Kathy Griffin announced Monday that she had been diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer.
• Griffin said she would undergo surgery to have part of her lung removed.
• "Yes, I have lung cancer even though I've never smoked!" the 60-year-old said.

Comedian Kathy Griffin announced Monday that she had been diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer and would undergo surgery to have part of her lung removed.

"I'm about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed," the 60-year-old said. "Yes, I have lung cancer even though I've never smoked!"

Griffin said her doctors were "optimistic" about her prognosis because the cancer was found only in her left lung. She said she was hopeful she wouldn't have to undergo radiation or chemotherapy treatments. She added she expected to be able to breathe normally and will be "up and running as usual" in about a month.

-Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 2, 2021

The veteran comic is known best for her biting stand-up performances and later being a reality TV star, which led to her winning Emmys in 2007 and 2008 for her show "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List."

In 2017, Griffin shaved her head in support of her sister Joyce who was battling cancer. Joyce died that September. Her brother Gary previosuly died of cancer in 2014.