Lutetium

Lutetium (Lu) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Lutetium’s research intensity is currently at about 98% of its all-time peak, a level reached within this ten-year window.

Research intensity ran from about 73% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 98% in 2026 — a steady climb, and the all-time peak (2025) falls inside this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, lutetium has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 733 in 2016 to about 2,228 in 2025 (3.04x). That is faster than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element gained ground in the wider body of research.

The dominant force in lutetium’s recent literature is Lutetium-177 Therapy for Neuroendocrine and Prostate Cancer. In this field, lutetium-177 serves as the therapeutic radionuclide in peptide receptor radionuclide therapy for metastatic neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer. While lutetium is a minor presence in the broader community of radioligand therapy—involved in only about 2% of its papers—it accounts for about 66% of lutetium’s own recent research. This share has risen significantly, up from about 48% in the previous five-year period. The work is anchored by the 2021 New England Journal of Medicine study on Lutetium-177–PSMA-617 for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, cited over 2,800 times, and a 2023 review on theranostics, cited over 210 times.

A second major area is Lutetium Oxide Single Crystals and Luminescence, focused on synthesizing and characterizing lutetium oxide single crystals and doped nanoparticles for luminescent applications. Here, lutetium is also a minor presence in the larger community of rare-earth-doped phosphors, involved in about 1% of those papers. However, it represents about 5.5% of lutetium’s recent research, a share that has declined from about 13% in the earlier period. Key work includes a 2017 Chemistry of Materials paper on tunable optical properties in blue-emitting phosphors, cited over 180 times, and a 2025 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces study on calcium lutetium gallate for plant lighting, cited about 13 times.

A third community, Lutetium Coordination Chemistry and Ammonia Sensing, involves synthesizing lutetium(III) complexes, including cyclopentadienyl structures, and studying ammonia sensing. Lutetium is a minor presence in this broader coordination chemistry community, involved in about 1% of its papers. It accounts for about 4.1% of lutetium’s recent research, down from about 10% previously. Notable papers include a 2024 Journal of the American Chemical Society study on the monomethylation of a lutetium dinitrogen complex, cited about 20 times, and a 2025 JACS paper on hyperfine coupling in lutetium(II) metallocene complexes, cited about 8 times.

Overall, the composition of lutetium research has shifted decisively toward medical applications. The share of research in Lutetium-177 therapy has risen sharply, while shares in luminescence and coordination chemistry have declined. The remaining 24% of recent research is distributed among other smaller communities.

For a deeper look at the current state of lutetium research, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.