Why might variants found in TCGA-generated MAFs be missing from the GDC open access MAF files?

Some of the reasons particular mutations may have been removed include updates to third party databases, more conservative germline-masking rules by the GDC, and different mutation calling pipelines and versions. Despite these differences, the GDC recaptures over 97% of TCGA-validated variants in the controlled-access MAF files. The GDC suggests using controlled-access MAF files if important variants cannot be found in somatic MAF files.