NEW YORK CITY — Health officials confirmed that about 1,140 people, who lived or worked near ground zero, including first-hand responders on September 11, 2001, have been diagnosed with cancer, as a result of the attacks.

That number could possibly grow. According to the WTC Responder Medical Program, there could be hundreds more who ended up seeking treatment by private doctors. The most likely cause of the cancer is related to carcinogens in the air at ground zero, inhaled by thousands of New Yorkers who were caught in the middle of the attacks. In most cases, the cancer didn’t appear until years later.

An oncology nurse at North Shore Hospital’s WTC clinic in Queens, said that she identified 12 new cases in the last two months and has another 25 patients whose diagnostic test results are pending.

As many as 65,000 people, including first responders, became sick from 9/11 exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A Mount Sinai Medical Center study, cited by the Daily News, found a 15 percent higher cancer rate among first responders than among people who were not exposed to the toxic air.