Hepatitis C virus: A time for decisions. Who should be treated and when?

Table 3 Factors potentially contributing to fibrosis progression in individuals with chronic hepatitis C virus

Established factors1	More recently identified risk factors
Duration of HCV infection	Patient age at time of diagnosis
Older age at infection	Genotype 3 infection
Male gender	Insulin resistance
Presence of baseline fibrosis	Gene polymorphisms involved in inflammation and iron metabolism
HIV coinfection1/CD4 count < 200 cells/mL	Human leukocyte antigen DRB1*1201-3 allele
Long term alcohol consumption	Latin ethnicity
(> 20-50 g/d)	Daily cannabis use
HBV coinfection
Metabolic syndrome (steatosis, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes)

¹HCV viral load and mode of infection are not associated with faster fibrosis progression. HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus; HBV: Hepatitis B virus.