This observation does not rule out the possibility that some bona fide piRNAs are derived from larger non-coding RNAs, and that some of the small RNAs described may be functioning as piRNAs; for instance, a snoRNA-derived piRNA has been confirmed to co-immunoprecipitate with PIWIL1 and PIWIL4 and has an epigenetic activation role in human cancer cells [95]. Here, PIWIL1 is linked to cancer.