Filming of the final series of political comedy Veep has been postponed while star Julia Louis-Dreyfus receives cancer treatment, the show’s producer said.

The Seinfeld actress, 56, revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in September and has been sharing progress of her treatment on social media.

Frank Rich, executive producer of the Emmy-winning HBO series, told SiriusXM that production of the seventh and final series was awaiting her recovery.

He said: “We’re obviously postponing production of the show – we were supposed to have started now – while she’s in treatment.”

Rich said that as recently as 10 days earlier, Louis-Dreyfus had taken part in a table read for one of the new episodes.

Earlier this year Louis-Dreyfus won her sixth Emmy award for her Veep portrayal of Selina Meyer, a former US president in the show.

The show is penned by The Thick Of It writer Armando Iannucci.