Cytoskeleton proteins, including cytokeratin 18 and vimentin, are abnormally expressed in breast cancer tissues. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of cytokeratin 18 and vimentin in cancerous breast tissues compared to normal tissues from Sudanese patients. 62 parrafin imbedded cancerous breast tissues from Sudanese patients were obtained from the Radiation and Isotope Center in Khartoum (RICK) compared to 32 normal tissues. Cytokeratin 18 and vimentin expression was investigated in the normal and the cancerous tissues using immunohistochemistry. Regarding the cytokeratin 18, the immunohistochemistry showed that 53(85.5%) of the cancerous tissues were positive and 9 (14.5%) were negative compared to two positive and 30 (93.75%) negative normal tissues. The results of vimentin showed that all the cancerous tissues were positive compared to 30 (93.75%) positive control tissues. Vimentin is not a promising tissue tumor marker while cytokeratin 18 can be considered as a useful tissue marker which can be used as a target for breast cancer therapy or in vaccination trials.
