The invention belongs to the technical field of medicine, and particularly relates to a method for preparing an apalutamide intermediate as a drug for treating prostate cancer through catalysis. According to the method, Ce(NO3)3.6H2O and Ni(NO3)2.6H2O serve as a Ce source and a Ni source to prepare a Ni/Ce compound metal oxide, Mg(NO3)2.6H2O and Al(NO3)2.9H2O serve as a magnesium source and an aluminum source to prepare magnalium aluminum hydrotalcite, and the Ni/Ce compound metal oxide, which serves an active ingredient, is in situ loaded onto a surface of the magnalium aluminum hydrotalciteand/or into a layered cavity when a coprecipitation method is used for preparing the magnalium aluminum hydrotalcite. The prepared Ni/Ce compound metal oxide loaded on the hydrotalcite can be used forcatalyzing 2-cyano-3-trifluoromethyl-5-nitropyridine to generate the apalutamide intermediate 2-cyano-3-trifluoromethyl-5-aminopyridine as the drug for treating the prostate cancer. The catalytic system of the invention is high in yield, and the target product is good in selectivity.