To elucidate the association between epilation and cancer mortality in Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors, cancer mortality was determined for a total of 9,356 survivors (3,591 males and 5,765 females) from 1 January 1970 to 31 December 1997. The subjects included individuals other than those in the Life Span Study (LSS) cohort of ABCC-RERF. Information on acute injury was obtained from a survey that was conducted at the time of application for a health handbook. The association between epilation and cancer mortality was evaluated by the Cox proportional hazards model, including factors such as gender, age at the time of the bombing, attained age, radiation dose and epilation. Epilation was found in 81 (2.3%) males and 148 (2.6%) females. No significant difference in the frequency of epilation was observed by gender or age at the time of the bombing. The hazard ratio of cancer mortality in those with epilation compared to those without epilation was 1.06 (95% confidence interval: 0.72-1.54). Similar to the study of the LSS cohort, no significant effects of epilation on cancer mortality were observed in the present study. The results indicated that the cancer mortality was significantly higher in those exposed to atomic bombing younger as was reported by LSS studies. However, the effects of radiation dose on cancer mortality have not been observed in the present study.