Techniques for mitigating pilot pollution in a wireless network are described. In an aspect, pilot pollution may be mitigated by reducing density and/or transmit power of common pilots whenever possible. A cell may send a common pilot at a first density and a first transmit power level during a first time period and may send the common pilot at a second density and a second transmit power level during a second time period. The second density may be lower than the first density and/or the second transmit power level may be lower than the first transmit power level. Lower density may be achieved by sending the common pilot less frequently, on fewer subcarriers, and/or from fewer antennas. The cell may determine whether to reduce the density and/or transmit power of the common pilot based on network loading, SINRs of terminals, etc. In another aspect, pilot pollution may be mitigated by performing pilot cancellation at a terminal.