US comedian and actress Kathy Griffin is having surgery after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The 60-year-old wrote on social media that she was "about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed".

She said doctors were "very optimistic" and that the cancer had not spread beyond her left lung.

"I should be up and running around as usual in a month or less," said the star, known for her stand-up routines and TV shows like Suddenly Susan.

"The doctors are very optimistic as it is stage one and contained to my left lung," the Grammy and Emmy award winner told her followers.

"Hopefully no chemo or radiation after this and I should have normal function with my breathing."

Stage one is one of the earliest stages of cancer diagnosis and means a tumour is relatively small and has not spread or has not spread far.

She said she had contracted the disease despite never having smoked. Between 10% and 20% of lung cancer cases occur in people who have not smoked, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.