A French woman with a rare, painful and disfiguring facial tumour who had sought doctor-assisted suicide has been found dead at her home in eastern France, a government official said.

The case of 52-year-old Chantal Sebire had drawn headlines across France and revived a national debate about the right to die.

Sebire's body was found at her home in the eastern town of Plombieres-les-Dijon in the Bourgogne region this afternoon.