The properties of singlet flavor chiral symmetry of lattice QCD with Wilson fermions are analyzed. We show that a suitable U (1) axial current can be defined, satisfying, in the continuum limit, the Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly. Moreover, the renormalization properties of composite operators which appear in U(1) chiral Ward identities are discussed. Finally, starting from the renormalized Ward identities for the axial U(1) current, we analyze a definition of topological susceptibility suitable for nonperturbative studies and discuss preliminary numerical results.