Since the depletion of core proteins of the first step of miRNA biogenesis did not affect the radiosensitivity of NSCLC, it is possible that RNA interference-mediated knock-down of either Dicer or Drosha results in a significant reduction, but not the full loss, of mature miRNA due to the long half-life of mature molecules. The gene discussed is DROSHA; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.