Joan Collins’ sister, best-selling novelist Jackie Collins, has died of breast cancer at the age of 77, her family announced.

“It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one-of-a-kind mother,” the statement said.

The British-born writer died in Los Angeles, her spokeswoman said.

Jackie Collins’s career spanned four decades and she sold more than 500 million books in 40 countries.

The family statement said the writer lived “a wonderfully full life”, adored by family, friends and readers.

“She was a true inspiration, a trailblazer for women in fiction and a creative force. She will live on through her characters but we already miss her beyond words,” it added.

Jackie Collins was diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer 6-and-a-half years ago, according to People magazine.

Joan Collins, 82, told the publication she was “completely devastated”.

“She was my best friend. I admire how she handled this. She was a wonderful, brave and a beautiful person and I love her,” the actress said.

Jackie Collins began writing as a teenager, making up racy stories for her school friends, according to a biography on her website.

Her first novel, The World is Full of Married Men, was published in 1968 and became a scandalous bestseller. It was banned in Australia and branded “disgusting” by romance writer Barbara Cartland.

In 1985, Jackie Collins’ novel Hollywood Wives was made into a mini-series by ABC, starring Anthony Hopkins and Candice Bergen.

Jackie Collins is survived by her three daughters, Tracy, 54, Tiffany, 48, and Rory, 46, and six grandchildren. Private funeral services will be held in the US and the UK.