Holding out hope for patients who often have no hope is what motivates Dr. Linda Liau to go to work each day.

As a neurosurgeon at UCLA School of Medicine, she runs an active research laboratory specializing in immunotherapy for brain tumor patients. She has even published a textbook on the subject entitled Brain Tumor Immunotherapy (Humana Press, 2001). Her intent is to one day not only prevent tumors from recurring, but prevent them from showing up in the first place. Part of that work involves finding a tumor vaccine.

"The whole idea of cancer vaccines is starting to become more accepted. Merck has a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer ... The concept, I think, makes sense; it's just a matter of how to best manipulate the immune system to achieve a significant response in these brain tumor patients."

Regarding patient Dominic Bakewell, Dr. Liau says he is doing fine, regaining more and more of his speaking abilities.

During the show, she awakens Bakewell in the middle of surgery to test his brain function. Among other things, she asks him to sing. Dr. Liau explains how the imaging she and speech pathologist Dr. Susan Bookheimer conducted, allowed them to determine which areas of the brain controlled his singing ability.

"Those areas of the brain that control those functions will light up on the scan and the reasons that they light up is those areas tend to use up more blood flow. So, basically, if you're singing, the area of the brain that controls that function will need more blood and the scan will pick that up."

Dr. Liau says the radiation treatments Bakewell will have to undergo is no guarantee the tumor will not recur, but rather it should at least delay any recurrence that might take place.

However, if she is successful in her research, a vaccine would negate the need for patients to undergo such therapy and may even allow them to live tumor free.