Different tumor types can have different oncogenes activated. Oncogenes are genes that are active in development, but are turned off after birth. Something damages the promoter (switch) and the gene turns on. There are also a few tumor supressor genes that are normally on after birth that keep the oncogenes turned off and if damaged, can cause tumors (ex: retinoblastoma).
That is why there will very likely be no one "cure" for cancer.
The other interesting thing is that mesothelioma can result from a single exposure to inhaled asbestos over 20 years in the past.
I keep thinking they're missing something here... If the genetic changes to which you refer can in this case be produced by a solely mechanical agent, the process of cancer development in this case has to be entirely produced by the body's "normal" processes for dealing with foreign objects, when it becomes so "overworked" over a period of many years attempting to deal with foreign objects of which the leukocytes cannot dispose. It seems to me there's a key piece of evidence of the process for mutation there which may be being overlooked.