Abstract: The Schwann cell reaction to nerve injury, termed the repair program, is crucial to successful nerve regeneration. Over the last decade, substantial advances have been made in elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms in Schwann cells that lead to functional nerve repair. Moreover, the field has identified situations, such as aging and chronic denervation where these mechanisms go awry, paving the way for the development of therapeutic interventions (Arthur-Farraj and Coleman, 2021; Cattin and Lloyd, 2016; Jessen and Mirsky, 2019). A recent article by Deborde et al. (2022) has demonstrated that unfortunately there is a downside to Schwann cells having such an efficient regeneration-promoting program; the promotion of tumor invasion of peripheral nerves.