Chinese Researchers Extract High-Purity Lead-212 for Cancer Treatment from Rare-Earth Ore Slag

Published: Aug 25, 2026 13:40

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Recently, a team led by Professor Wei Yuezhou from the School of Nuclear Science and Technology at University of South China directly separated high-purity alpha-emitting nuclide lead-212 and its precursor nuclide thorium-228 from rare-earth ore slag, and successfully achieved the separation and extraction of 0.000158 curie of lead-212/bismuth-212 in a single batch from kilogram-scale rare-earth ore slag. Lead-212 has a half-life of 10.6 hours and is currently one of the most promising targeted alpha therapy nuclides worldwide, enabling precise treatment of various malignant tumors such as breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer. However, the extraction process for lead-212 is complex, with low production and high cost, making its targeted drugs difficult to scale for widespread application. Monazite-processing radium slag is radioactive radium-rich waste slag generated during the production of rare-earth products using monazite ore as the raw material. This original technology of “turning harm into benefit and waste into value” is expected to break the global deadlock of a severe shortage in the supply of medical alpha-emitting nuclides in one stroke.

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