Bob Hawke's widow, Blanche D'Alpuget, receiving treatment for cancer

The widow of Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, Blanche D'Alpuget, has revealed she is receiving treatment for breast cancer.

Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and wife Blanche d'Alpuget in 2014 Source: AAP

Blanche D'Alpuget, the widow of former prime minister Bob Hawke, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 76-year-old found a lump on her breast about six weeks ago and is now undergoing chemotherapy to fight the disease, The Daily Telegraph reports.

She found the lump by accident.

The author and biographer is the second wife of Mr Hawke, who died last year aged 89.

She produced two biographical works about the former prime minister in 1982 and 2010 respectively, with a re-released compilation coming out after Hawke's passing last year.

Blanche d'Alpuget, the wife of Bob Hawke, during the State Memorial service for former Prime Minister Bob Hawke at the Sydney Opera House last year Source: AAP

Ms D'Alpuget is the author of nine other books including novels and essays.

Her non-fiction work 'On Lust and Longing' details her second meeting with Hawke in 1976 when the two decided to become lovers.

They married in 1995 after Hawke and his first wife Hazel Hawke announced their separation several years earlier.