Interestingly, a paradoxical function of PIWIL1/HIWI has surfaced, where the upregulation of piR-017061, which binds with PIWIL1, inhibited the mRNA translation of Ephrin A5 (EFNA5), involved in regulating cell growth and proliferation in pancreatic cancer. Here, EFNA5 is linked to familial pancreatic carcinoma.