Figure 3.

Mutation types within the cancer antigenome. Mutations (red symbols) present in human tumours can be subdivided into three groups. Drivers, mutations that are essential for tumour transformation or growth. ‘Essential passengers’, mutations in genes that cannot easily be deleted by the tumour as it is critical for tumour cell survival and no wild-type copy is present. Mere passengers, mutations that have no impact on tumour growth or survival but can generate T-cell neo-antigens. For the latter mutation type, the likelihood of tumour escape is high compared to driver and essential passenger mutations.