Since alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty livers have an impact on the natural history of HCV infection [11], we wondered whether carriage of HSD17B13:TA, by modulating the detrimental effects of carrying an unfavorable PNPLA3 genotype, may protect against cirrhosis and HCC development in patients with long-standing HCV infection. Here, PNPLA3 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.